#Two girls who grew up in the ���bad” side of things in the middle of a political feud

[j-1-nx]

I'm sure it's no surprise to anyone that I hate Caitvi with a passion, however. The people on tiktok talking about how "Catradora walked so Caitvi could run" don't realize that mine and Vi's relationship and story is more similar to Catra and Adora than her and Caitler's ever was- only difference is that we're sisters and not romantically involved.

Also Catradora ran so Caitvi could trip and fall down a well, but that's an opinion so

[c-oupsie]

── the fine print of fake dating (1/2),

pairing: kwon soonyoung x f!reader

summary: Two broke college best friends decide to enter a Valentine’s “Hottest Couple” contest for the chance to win a semester of free tuition. The plan? Nail every romantic challenge without anyone catching on that they’re faking it. The problem? Nowhere in the fine print did it say what to do when fake dating starts to feel a little too real.

word count: 3k (total fic wc: 21k)

genre: college au (frats, sororities), childhood best friends to fake dating to lovers, he’s in love w reader, fluff, humor, suggestive stuff, smut (in part two).

note: for the Lonely Hearts Cafe collab hosted by @camandemstudios! I know part one is extremely short, but i needed to get this out asap! hope this will hype you up for part two though! that’s where all the juice is at (,,>ヮ<,,)!

svt taglist: @aaniag @dokyeomkyeom @soonsgrl

warnings: alcohol (over)consumption, being drunk, more in part two.

smut tags: in part two.

𝗬𝗢𝗨’𝗩𝗘 𝗞𝗡𝗢𝗪𝗡 𝗦𝗢𝗢𝗡𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗚 𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗬𝗦 𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗡 𝗜𝗡𝗡𝗢𝗖𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗗𝗜𝗔𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗪𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗞𝗡𝗘𝗪. 

Your mothers, best friends since middle school, had moved into homes right next to each other after getting married—and when they ended up pregnant at almost the same time, it was inevitable that you and Soonyoung would grow up side by side. Suffocating hugs, sleepovers, lazy afternoons, holidays—spending time together has been part of your life since forever, and as you grew older, you couldn’t even imagine a life without him.

But now, twenty years later, innocence and diapers are the furthest things from your minds. As Soonyoung pulls up to the Beta Chi Sigma frat house, excitement crackles in your chest. One night. You gave yourself just one night of fun, to forget about your overdue bills and tuition, the creeping exam session, your exhausting part-time job, or your empty side of the fridge in the cramped, rundown apartment you share with six other girls in the bad side of the town. 

You just… can’t wait to get absolutely fucked up on this random Wednesday night.

Your starry-eyed gaze flickers toward the frat house, and before you know it, you’re running toward the entrance, laughter bubbling up as Soonyoung chases after you. Jihoon, one of your closest friends, follows at a slower pace, catching the keys Soonyoung tosses his way, already accepting his role as designated driver for the night.

The front entrance is crowded with students, conversations weaving through cigarette smoke as laughter spills into the night air. Just as you reach for the door, fingers tangle effortlessly with yours. You don’t even need to look. You already know it’s Soonyoung.

The moment you step inside, chaos engulfs you. The house is packed—bodies pressed together, music booming, voices yelling in hopes of being heard. Someone in the living room is absolutely butchering a song into a karaoke mic, while a crowd has gathered around a guy on the coffee table, watching him take a gravity bong rip like it’s the coolest, most interesting thing in the world. (Which… okay, you admit it’s kind of cool to see.)

Barely five minutes in, and your eyes are already stinging from the thick haze of smoke—just like always. Still, you manage to spot your group of friends gathered around the beer pong table. Grinning, you tug excitedly on Soonyoung’s hand, waving your free one in the air to catch their attention. Jihyo and Jinsol notice first, waving you over, but just as you take a step forward, a ping pong ball comes hurtling toward you. You dodge it just in time—Soonyoung, however, is not so lucky. It bounces off his forehead with a soft thwack.

“Ow! What the fuck?” He immediately slaps a hand to his forehead, eyes darting toward the culprit—Mingyu, who is very clearly trying (and failing) to stifle a laugh.

“Sorry, dude. My bad,” Mingyu chirps, utterly unapologetic.

By the time you and Soonyoung reach the table, Mingyu pulls both of you into a bone-crushing hug before handing you each an ice-cold beer, whispering that he saved them just for you. The gesture makes you smile.

From the corner of your eye, you spot Jihoon approaching Jinsol—the only one of your roommates you actually get along with and the same girl he somehow managed to charm just a few months into freshman year. They’ve been together for so long now that the man who once swore he hated PDA is currently all over her, hands not-so-subtly roaming as he presses a chaste kiss to her cheek.

You grimace at how disgustingly sweet they are.

Love, in your experience, is more trouble than it’s worth. You stopped believing in the idea of it after your ex—a complete waste of your time, though you couldn’t see that a year ago. Not until you walked into your own apartment to find him on the living room couch with one of your roommates. The same roommate you still share an apartment with. The same one who still pretends as if nothing happened. The same one who still has the audacity to act as if you’re friends.

Shaking off the thought, you perk up as Minghao and Seokmin push through the crowd, Seokmin lugging a massive neon-green vat of jungle juice while Minghao balances a stack of red Solo cups.

“Ah, the good stuff,” Soonyoung sighs dreamily.

You, on the other hand, nearly gag. If by good stuff he means liver-destroying liquid poison, then sure. And yet, you already know you’ll end up drinking it anyway. That’s why you’re here, after all—to embrace the full college experience, which your best friend refuses to miss out on. Case in point: he’s already downed the beer Mingyu handed him and is now eagerly reaching for the jungle juice.

“I give him twenty minutes before he’s trying to backflip off the counter,” Jihyo murmurs, slinging an arm around your shoulder, her beer can clinking with yours.

“That’s awfully generous of you.” You grin, chugging some of your cold beer before speaking again, “I give him no more than fifteen.”

To give him some credit, it takes your ever-lightweight best friend about an hour before he’s halfway onto the counter, loudly announcing a “sick trick” he’s about to show everyone. Thankfully, before he can follow through on whatever terrible idea is brewing in his drunken mind, Mingyu and Wonwoo—another frat boy who arrived at the party not long after you—spot him just in time and haul him back down to solid ground.

Soonyoung groans in protest, squirming in their grip. “You guys have no vision.”

Mingyu scoffs. “We do—and that vision includes you with a concussion if we let you go.”

Wonwoo just sighs. “At least let me place a bet before you try to break your skull.”

You shake your head when Soonyoung dramatically sits on your lap and throws his head back on your shoulder. You grimace at how sweaty and sticky (due to all of the alcohol he spilled on himself as you all played a myriad of drinking games) he feels, but still, you don’t push him off, taking the opportunity to shove a water bottle into Soonyoung’s hands. “Drink.”

He pouts at your commanding voice, even lightly kicks his feet, but takes a sip nonetheless, muttering something about being the undiscovered ‘parkour king’, and for a moment, you catch yourself finding the pinkish, drunken dust on his cheeks adorable. 

Mindlessly, you run your fingers through his spiky hair, and you think he might've actually calmed down when he practically melts on top of you. That is, until Seokmin and Minghao reappear, eyes gleaming with mischief, their hands full of full shot glasses. The clinking of them is enough to tear your best friend out of the calm daze he was in.

“Oh, no,” you mutter.

“Oh, yes,” Soonyoung grins, jumping up from his (your) seat as he reaches for a shot.

You don’t even try to stop the inevitable as Soonyoung downs another shot, his grin stretching wider with every sip of alcohol. He hands you another shot glass, his hamster-like eyes shining with anticipation, and even though you know you should refuse, given that at least one of you should stay somewhat sober, you don’t. With a sigh and a half-hearted smile, you knock it back with him.

The liquor burns on the way down, but it’s a welcome distraction. Until now, you’d barely touched anything besides the beer Mingyu shoved into your hand when you first arrived. Not because you didn’t want to drink, but because no matter how hard you tried to just… let go and have fun with your friends, it was almost as if your mind was stopping you from being carefree.

And the way Jihyo, Jinsol, and Jihoon have started giving you these small, fleeting glances—ones that make you wonder if they’ve noticed the slight dip in your usual energy. If they’ve picked up on the way your laughs don’t come as easily, the way your smiles feel a little more forced.

You don’t want them to worry. You don’t even want to acknowledge it yourself.

So, you do the only thing you can do—you drink.

Another shot. Then another. The warmth spreads through your veins, numbing the edges of your thoughts, and you let yourself get swept up in the dizzy blur of it all. The music, the people, the easy laughter—if you focus hard enough, maybe you can forget, even if just for a little while.

But then you catch sight of Soonyoung.

He’s swaying slightly, eyes unfocused as he laughs a little too loudly at something Minghao said. His grip on his shot glass is loose, like he might drop it any second. He looks gone.

You frown. Maybe you let things go too far.

Without another thought, you push through the crowd and grab his wrist, ignoring his startled yelp as you tug him away from the drinks table. “Alright, that’s enough for you.”

“Wha—” Soonyoung stumbles slightly but lets you pull him along without protest. “Where are we going?” he asks, though he’s not really resisting, just letting you guide him through the crowded house. He trusts you.

“Somewhere you can’t make a fool of yourself,” you say, dragging him toward the quieter side of the house.

He pouts, looking adorably confused. “I never make a fool of myself.”

You snort. “That’s literally your entire personality.”

Soonyoung gasps dramatically, pressing a hand to his chest. “I can’t believe you’d say that to me, your bestest friend in the whole universe.”

Rolling your eyes, you tighten your grip on his wrist and keep moving, weaving through the mass of sweaty, drunk students, until you finally reach the balcony.

The night air is a relief against your warm skin as you push open the balcony door, stepping out into the open space. A few people linger around, some engaged in quiet conversation, others taking slow drags from their cigarettes or passing a joint around. The scent of smoke mingles with the crispness of the evening, less suffocating than inside the party.

Soonyoung stumbles slightly as he follows you out, still pouting but too drunk to put up much of a fight. You guide him toward the railing, fishing out a half-empty water bottle from your bag before shoving it into his hands. “Drink,” you command.

He groans but obeys, taking a slow sip before scrunching his nose. “Water’s boring.”

“And yet, you need it,” you say, tipping your own bottle back for a long drink. The coolness soothes your throat, washing away the lingering burn of alcohol. You sigh, tilting your head back, eyes tracing the outline of the moon.

You should feel better now that you're away from the noise, but your thoughts are still buzzing—too many worries tangled up in your head. No matter how much you drank, how hard you tried to drown them out, they clung to you stubbornly. You wonder if Jihyo, Jinsol, and Jihoon had noticed. If they could tell you weren’t entirely you tonight. The thought makes your stomach twist.

Absentmindedly, you gaze down at your phone—until a notification appears, making your stomach twist.

REMINDER: YOUR TUITION PAYMENT IS PAST DUE. PLEASE SUBMIT PAYMENT IMMEDIATELY TO AVOID LATE FEES AND ACCOUNT HOLDS.

Your breath catches. Swallowing hard, you lock your phone and shove it into your pocket, willing the panic to stay buried.

“Oh? You two?”

You turn your head just in time to see Seungkwan approaching, his eyebrows raised in pleasant surprise. He’s a freshman—someone you’ve seen everywhere since the semester started. The two of you even exchanged numbers for a history class project, which led to following each other on socials, and through that, you also recognize the guy with his arm around his shoulder, exhaling a slow stream of smoke from a joint—his boyfriend.

“Seungkwan?” you blink, surprised. You hadn’t expected to see him here.

“Fancy running into you,” he says, stepping closer. “Didn’t take you guys for the frat party type.”

Soonyoung, barely processing the conversation, raises his water bottle. “We party so hard.”

You resist the urge to pinch the bridge of your nose.

Seungkwan chuckles. “Clearly.” His eyes flick between you and Soonyoung, his head tilting slightly. “Didn’t know you were a thing.”

You nearly choke on your water. “What?”

Vernon’s clearly amused. He nods toward Soonyoung’s hand—casually resting on your hip, something you hadn’t even noticed. Just muscle memory, the way he steadies himself when he’s tipsy. “Yeah, you two do kinda give off that vibe.”

Soonyoung, still blissfully unaware, just grins and squeezes your hip. “We do?”

Seungkwan nods, suddenly more interested. “Well, if you are, you have to sign up for the Valentine’s Week contest.” 

You blink again. “The what?”

His face lights up as he pulls out his phone, already scrolling. “It’s this big event happening on campus. Basically, the hottest couple wins free tuition for a semester and a cash prize.” He turns his phone toward you. “Me and Nonie are thinking of signing up.”

A flyer, bright and bold—Mingyu’s Instagram story.

Hottest Couple Contest! Win Free Tuition for a Semester + $100 in Cash! Show the world you’re the ultimate campus couple through a week of exciting, romantic challenges! Sign up by Friday, February 7th. Details and Requirements below!

Soonyoung leans in over your shoulder. “What the—”

But you’re already moving, your thumb tapping the link obnoxiously decorated with fire emojis before your realise. You expect a joke, some ridiculous gimmick. Instead, a legitimate registration form loads, complete with structured rules, deadlines, and an FAQ that’s way too long.

Your heart stutters in your chest. Free tuition.

Beside you, Soonyoung hums thoughtfully. “Hottest couple, huh?” He throws an arm around your shoulder, leaning in dramatically. “We would totally win that.”

You barely hear him, your mind already spinning. Free tuition. A semester covered. No more sleepless nights spent stressing over money.

Seungkwan squints at you. “Well, are you guys actually dating?”

You don’t think. You don’t hesitate.

You meet Seungkwan’s eyes and, with a practiced ease that even surprises yourself, you say—

“Yeah.”

“Yeah?!”

The second you and Soonyoung slip past the groups of partygoers, finally finding refuge in a dimly lit hallway near the back door, you let out a breath you hadn’t even realized you were holding. The pounding bass of the music still hums through the walls, but here, away from prying eyes, you can actually think.

Soonyoung, on the other hand, looks like he just had three shots of espresso. If he was tipsy before, he suddenly looks very, very awake.

“I cannot believe this is happening,” he blurts out, pacing in a small circle before spinning back to face you. His speech is still slightly slurred, his cheeks dusted pink—though you’re not sure if that’s from the alcohol or something else. “This is, like, peak rom-com behavior. How is this even real?!”

A pang of guilt tugs at you. You did kind of throw him into this whole mess without warning, all because you saw the prize and couldn't think straight.

You stay silent for a beat before you mutter an apology. “I’m so sorry for dragging you into this. If you want, I can just… take everything back, tell Seungkwan I was too drunk to—”

You watch his face fall at your words.

“Hey, no, don’t even worry,” Soonyoung cuts in immediately, reaching for your hands. His grip is warm, firm. “I’m in, babe.”

Your eyes narrow, though you can’t help the small smile forming. “Don’t push it.”

He grins but raises his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. Serious mode now. We need to see that form and strategize.”

You sigh, already pulling out your phone. “On it.” A few taps later, the contest’s official page loads up, complete with deadlines, requirements, and an aggressively detailed FAQ section. You skim through the details. “Alright… first, we have to apply. Obviously.”

Soonyoung leans in close to read over your shoulder, and you ignore how his cologne (the one you love most on him) makes your heart stutter just a tiny bit. “And then we have to complete a bunch of couple challenges throughout Valentine’s Week,” he murmurs. His gaze brightens. “OH, WAIT—LOOK! There’s a compatibility quiz! We totally got this.”

You glance at him skeptically. “You think we’d score high?”

He grins, all dimples and confidence. “Duh. I know you better than anyone.”

You roll your eyes but can’t fight the smile tugging at your lips as you slowly start filling out the form. You know he’s right.

Suddenly, Soonyoung gasps dramatically. “Oh my god. This means we have to act like a real couple. In public.”

You give him a deadpan look. “That’s literally the entire point of this contest.”

He grabs your shoulders as if this is the most important conversation of his life. “We need a story. How did we start dating? When’s our anniversary? Who confessed first?!”

You frown. “Do people really care about all that?”

“Yes!” He shakes you slightly, eyes wide. “It’s the Hottest Campus Couple Contest, not the We’ve Been Dating for Ten Minutes Contest!”

You sigh. “Okay, fine. We’ll come up with a story.”

“Right now?”

“Yes, right now.”

He claps his hands together, eyes gleaming. “Alright. I say I confessed first. Because, let’s be honest, that’s the most realistic scenario.”

You snort. “Oh? And why’s that?”

He blurts out: “Because I’d totally fall for you first.”

Silence.

The words hang between you, heavier than either of you expected.

Soonyoung’s eyes widen slightly, as if he just realized what he said. Then, he clears his throat a little too quickly and nervously giggles. “I mean—hypothetically.”

You shake your head, laughing softly. “Right. Hypothetically.”

His grin is sheepish, but his cheeks are still pink. “This is gonna be so fun.”

You glance back down at the contest page, your eyes scanning the bold letters at the top. Hottest Campus Couple Contest!

You exhale, locking your phone before sneaking a look at Soonyoung. He’s already beaming at you.

“Yeah,” you murmur, shaking your head with amusement. “It’s gonna be something, alright.”

Then you look back at the rules. “But we have to strategize properly. Looks like there are elimination rounds and a lot of details they’ll be asking for.”

Soonyoung nods solemnly, as if he’s preparing for battle. “Say no more.”

“Tomorrow. My car. Bring a notebook or... something,” you say, pointing at him.

He blinks at you, then grins. Wide. “Bossy. I like it.”

You roll your eyes and push his face away.

note: thank you for reading this (very short) part one! I'll release part two next week, so stay tuned. I'm SO back, baby!

[deathofpeaceofmiiind]

Kill my time // Quinn Hughes

In a city full of lonely people, I just want you all to myself

summary: birthday celebrations causing jealousy while struggling to turn a certain age

warnings: drinking, clubbing, smut (18+)

── ∘◦ ⛤ ◦∘ ──

“I can’t believe I’m going to a bar like I’m in my early twenties again.”

I smoothed my dress down, picking apart everything wrong with me as I looked in the mirror. Turning thirty felt like my world was about to collapse, and what made it worse was knowing my boyfriend was only turning twenty five just two days after me.

“Not to mention with a bunch of guys who are twenty one.” My roommate added as she fixed us a couple of drinks. I saw her bring out a bottle of tequila, knowing I was going to be in for a long night.

“Ugh, what did I get myself into?”

“Girl, it’s fine! Quinn doesn’t care about your age so why should you?” She asks, passing me whatever concoction she made. A took a small sip, realizing it was tequila and soda…more like tequila with a splash of soda.

Deep down I knew she was right, because when I told Quinn I was older than him it didn’t phase him at all, I completely expected him to run. He told me the idea of being with someone older was a big turn on for him, something he didn’t discover until he met me. As for me, it didn’t matter what age the men were I dated, they were all extremely immature. I knew it was a risk with Quinn but he definitely didn’t act like men his age. After all he was the captain of an NHL team, he had to have a strong head on his shoulders.

An hour later I was making my way through a busy drunken crowd, holding onto Quinn’s hand for dear life. For whatever reason, his teammates chose this club to celebrate his birthday tonight. Wouldn’t have been my first choice, and I don’t think Quinn was thrilled on it either but he was too quiet to say anything. We always made the best of a bad situation and I knew tonight wouldn’t be any different. House music and lights were bouncing off the walls, making it hard to focus on where we were going. We finally got into our booth and a heavy sigh left me, I definitely wasn’t drunk enough for this.

“You okay, sweetheart?” Quinn’s velvet voice echoed in my ear, calming my nerves. His eyes were bright green, almost enchanting as they peered into mine. My face grew hot, wondering how it was humanly possible for someone to be this gorgeous.

“Yeah it’s just been a while.” I wasn’t lying either. I spent most of my time in breweries with my friends since most of us were over going to clubs. Quinn likes to tell me he doesn’t like going out, but give him a few drinks and he makes a liar out of himself.

He pulled me closer to him, so close I could feel his stubble on my neck. “I won’t leave your side at all, I promise.”

“Okay.” I nodded before he gently brushed his lips over mine. I got lost in our own little world, the music melted away and I forgot we were in the middle of a busy club surrounded by strangers.

“Let’s celebrate, it’s your birthday after all.”

I rolled my eyes, “it’s also yours in two days.”

“Yeah, but …” his words trail off as he runs the pad of his thumb over my lip, “today brought me you.”

“How does it feel to be with a thirty year old?” The words falling past my lips causing my eyes to roll again. That number just didn’t sit right with me. “I’m officially an old lady.”

“Thirty has never looked better.” He mused, his hand running up my hip and bringing me closer to him. I pulled him into another kiss, his cologne hit me like a tidal wave causing butterflies in my stomach. His hand ran up my neck and gripped me tighter while his tongue begged to enter my mouth. We stayed like that, blissfully unaware of reality until his teammates came over with trays of various shots.

“Okay lover boy that’s enough. Let’s get you drunk.”

One thing about partying with hockey players is all of them have no limits when it comes to spending. I had to finally stop accepting every shot they brought around after the room began to spin. Best part of the night though was that the Devils were in town, so Jack and Luke, Quinn’s brothers were here to celebrate with everyone. This was only my second time meeting them but they were extremely welcoming and treated me like I was their sister. Jack at one point asked me to go dance with him and I couldn’t help but say yes.

“So how does it feel to be thirty?” Jack yelled into my ear as we danced to one of my favourite John Summit songs.

“Terrible. I’m almost a decade older than you!”

“You make thirty look so good though.” He smirks as Luke came behind me and picked me up, causing me to scream at him to put me down. As much as I fought he kept me over his shoulder.

“I just want you to know we fucking love you and you make my brother so happy.” Luke added as he finally put me down, the room was still spinning so I had to brace myself against him to make it stop.

“Thanks buddy.” I jumped a little, feeling Quinn’s hand on my back. His face was flushed, telling me he was up to no good without me.

“Can I have my girlfriend back now?”

“Sorry bro!” Luke kissed the top of my head before him and Jack ran off to grab more drinks.

“You okay?” I asked Quinn as I turned to him, he smelt like whiskey and honey as he brought his lips to my neck.

“I will be.” He mumbles, burrowing his face into my neck. “I’m glad my brothers like you, but you’re my girlfriend. Not theirs.”

“Do you think they’re gonna steal me?” I clasped my mouth, trying to hold in my laughter because I know he was being serious. It was downright adorable.

“Maybe.”

“But I’m yours” I assured him, stepping closer to his body. My hands reaching behind his neck, slipping stands of his hair between my fingers. “No one will ever steal me from you.”

“Prove it.” He replied with such confidence, not taking his eyes off my lips. His hands reached up to my hips, pressing me even closer to him. I gasped as I felt his erection brush up against my leg, “come with me.”

“Where are we going?”

“Trust me.” He mumbled, his eyes glazed with desire and whatever was in his system. I grabbed his hand, not knowing where he was taking me.

Quinn guided me into a private bathroom and locked the door. His hand brushed gently over my chest, hooking his finger under the strap of my dress. I watched him with intent, my heart pounding so fast I was surprised he didn’t feel it.

“You belong to me.” He whispered, slowly closing the gap between us. My hands braced onto his chest as he captured my mouth into a kiss that started off sweet but grew sloppy.

“I belong to you….no one else.”

He smirked so devilishly that I felt something more than butterflies in my stomach. Our kisses were met with biting of lower lips and Quinn grabbed my dress so tight I thought it was going to split. I wasted no time and began to unbutton his pants, dropping to my knees in the process. His dick sprung out of his boxers, dripping with pre-cum as my eyes widened.

“Stick your tongue out baby.”

My exposed tongue was met with his tip as he gently circled over my taste buds. I could taste him already, it was making my mouth salivate and run down my chin.

“Such a good girl.” He breathed as his free hand tugged on my hair. “Open your mouth for me.”

I did as I was told and Quinn slowly slid his erection into my mouth, inch by inch until his tip hit the back of my throat. He bit his lip as I began to slide my mouth up and down, his grip on my hair getting tighter.

“Fuck, baby this feels so good.” He deeply moaned, making me feel it in the back of my throat. “Such a good girl taking my whole dick in that pretty little mouth of yours.”

I could tell he was getting close with how laboured his breathing became. I removed my mouth from him and began to lick his tip that was glistening with my spit. He looked down at me with pleading eyes, as if me mouth fucking him was the only thing keeping him alive.

“Come in my mouth Quinn, I know what you want to.”

“Not yet.” His voice sounded so husky as he motioned for me to stand up. I wiped my mouth, taking a long look at him. “Your turn birthday girl.”

I couldn’t help but giggle as he picked me up and sat me on the bathroom counter. My back rested against the mirror as he spread my legs, situating himself between them. When our eyes met my heart felt like it was going to explode, I’ve never seen him like this before.

“How bad do you need me right now?” He asked, slowly taking my lip between his teeth again.

“I need you so fucking badly.”

He makes his home between my thighs and begins to tease me with his tip. I regretted wearing underwear tonight but feeling his pre cum soak the lace was the sweetest form of torture, and he knew it.


“Tell me again…how bad do you need me?” I couldn’t get a word out. His laugh was dark as he fluttered his somber eyes at me, “use your words sweetheart, what do you want for your birthday?”

“I want you.”

“That’s a good start.” He muses, applying pressure on my thighs with his thumbs, “where do you want me?”

No words were leaving me as I gasped for air. Quinn began to run his mouth over my jaw, down to my collarbone, nipping slightly at the skin. I grabbed his hand and guided it between my thighs, his thumb instantly pressing onto my underwear.

“Right there?” He asks, slowly moving my underwear to the side. A small gasp in satisfaction left him as he felt how soaked I was for him. I just nodded, whimpering already from his touch. “Tell me how much you wish this was my dick instead?”

“Quinn, I need you please … I’m yours.”

“That’s my girl.” He replied so proudly, pushing his tip inside of me slowly. His head falls back once he’s fully inside me and it’s the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen. “Fuck you feel so good, so fucking good.”

Quinn started off slowly, teasing my clit simultaneously with each stroke. He leaned into my ear, continuously praising me as his strokes became faster and harder. Sweat rolled down me as the building started up in my stomach, that familiar flutter began to take over and I knew I was done for. My nails dug into his back as he sinks his teeth into my shoulder as my orgasm left my body.

“Fuck I’m gonna -“

It only took a few seconds before he spilled into me. His hands gently found my face, guiding me to look at him. My legs were still shaking as he kissed me so softly. I was in a complete haze as we broke apart, that one unruly strand of hair fell in front of his face as he studied me. He was so beautiful, there were no other words to describe him.

“Happy birthday, baby.” He mused, gently kissing all the tattoos on my arm. Funny thing,

I never thought he’d go for a girl with a full sleeve and dark hair like me. He struck me as someone who went for blonde Instagram models but, once again he proved me wrong.

“You definitely just gave me the best birthday present ever.” I lightly laughed.

He titled his head to the side, cupping my cheek, “I don’t think anything will be beat the gift you gave me.”

“What’s that?”

“You.”

[yelenasbraid]

𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐨 𝐮𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 — 𝒋𝒐𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘

summary — joe proposes to you

warnings — fem!reader, major fluff

note — joe is NOT bald in this, but when i saw he shaved his head i winced a little (i’m dramatic i know it’ll be fine)

𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐅𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐘 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀𝐋𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋. you and joe were hosting your families for dinner, and you couldn’t be more excited. you loved when your families got together, eating dinner and laughing at all of the good memories.

joe was excited for the same reason, but there was another one that had kept him up the previous night.

“dad said he wanted to grill tonight, so if it’s alright with you, we let good ol’ dad grill,” you chirped as you slid a pumpkin pie into the oven. joe always requested pie at special occasions, sometimes he requested it on a normal tuesday. you always obliged; you thought it was adorable that joe’s favorite dessert was pumpkin pie.

“less cooking for us,” joe grinned. he was at the counter, leaning his forearms against the countertop. he watched you, observing how your cheeks were flushed with the heat coming from the oven, how your hair was tied up behind you. your eyes sparkled as you eyed him, a grin spreading across your lips.

“true, plus dad makes a killer steak,” you told him, putting a timer on the oven. you stepped away from the oven and walked up to joe, wrapping your arms around his middle from behind him.

“has your mom said anything?” you asked as you rested your chin on his shoulder.

“only that she’s bringing a side, though i told her not to,” he twisted his head to kiss your temple. as much as he loved having family over, hearing the laughter and seeing you smile, joe cherished moments like this where it was just the two of you. it was a kind of intimacy that while silent, spoke volumes.

“mama burrow will always bring a side, you know she misses cooking for you boys,” you hummed, and joe sighed in agreement. there were days he missed being with his mom, but he wouldn’t change anything. if he did, who knows if he’d have met you?

a knock at the door separated you two.

“hold on,” joe spoke as you parted to get the door. he softly grabbed your hand and pulled you to him, softly kissing your lips.

“what was that for?” you smiled, pulling away with a blush on your cheeks. even after three years, joe still could make you blush.

“just because,” he shrugged, a boyish smile making its way onto his face. you playfully rolled your eyes, pecking his lips again.

“alright, sweet boy,” you said, turning away from him to greet your guests.

—

dinner was done, dessert finished, and now both families were sitting outside on the patio, lights illuminating faces. you sat by joe, a glass of wine in your hands as you listened to a story your mom was telling.

“i’m telling you guys, this girl could fall asleep anywhere. i’ll never forget i came home from work one day to find 6 year old y/n sleeping in her father’s office chair. except she wasn’t sitting in it, no, the top half of her made it into the chair, legs didn’t. so she fell asleep only halfway on a desk chair,” your mom couldn’t contain her giggles as she recalled the memory.

“how did you not fall off?” robin asked you, blushes of embarrassment rising to your cheeks.

“that’s a fantastic question,” you laughed, as did everyone else.

“she can pretty much still fall asleep anywhere,” joe confirmed, which earned a playful eye roll and a shove from you.

stories continued to be shared, and as the evening came to a close, the ring box in joe’s pocket grew heavier by the second. he was beginning to get nervous. what if he said things wrong? what if, by some chance, you said no? you’ve seen each other through thick and thin, the good days and the bad days. why was he so nervous?

it was getting later, the soft colors of the sunset beginning to fade. you and joe bid farewell to your guests, but you didn’t hear what your father said to joe as he embraced him.

“she’s gonna say yes, joe,” your father gave him a wink before they all bid farewell for the evening, leaving the two of you alone. the little affirmation from your father helped joe’s nerves, but not enough to completely be rid of them.

“well, that was fun! i would say dad cooked an extra mean steak tonight,” you sighed as you took another sip of your wine.

“he definitely upped his steak game,” he agreed, but the more he stood there the crazier the nerves got. he felt like he was going to keel over, but at the same time, he was so excited. ever since he met you he wanted to marry you. he couldn’t see him spending forever with anyone else.

you finished your glass and got up to take it into the kitchen. joe softly grabbed your hand, pulling you back to him. a concerned but relaxed expression dawned on your face as you walked towards him.

“you alright?” you asked him, setting your wine glass down. you felt the warmth of his hands, how sweaty they were.

“i’ve never been better,” he hummed. underneath the lights, you glowed. your eyes sparkled, your skin was glowing, and of course you held a smile on your face. he ran the words over in his mind, hoping he made some sense. it shouldn’t matter, but it did to him.

“you look like you’re gonna pass out,” you commented, which earned a chuckle from joe.

“i’m not gonna pass out on you, promise,” he reassured you. he cleared his throat, and brought his hand out of yours to caress your face. you reached up and grabbed his hand, watching as his eyes sparkled.

“have i ever told you how much i love you?” his words were smooth and sweet. you felt your cheeks heat up, and for some reason, the butterflies awoke in your stomach.

“many times, joey,” you answered.

“y/n i…you’ve been by my side this entire time. with grace, with love, and with a forgiveness that sometimes i didn’t deserve. ever since i transferred from ohio state, you’ve been there. you told me that i shouldn’t give up on my dream to be a pro football player. you told me to prove them wrong,” he started, feeling his eyes start to burn with tears. he swore he wouldn’t cry, not now. he had to at least get down on one knee first.

you were silent. you watched him curiously, but something in your gut told you this wasn’t a normal speech. your breath was shaky with nerves as you watched him, trying not to get your hopes up too high.

“you stuck with me through lsu, through injury after injury. through everything, and i can’t repay any of that. you’ve been the safety i come home to, my biggest cheerleader, and the woman who’s been the glue to hold me together,” he continued, fighting the tears that threatened to spill.

you held onto his hand, which had dropped from your face, and rubbed circles on his hand with your thumb.

“with all of that being said,” he started, digging a shaky hand into his pocket and pulling out the box, “will you marry me?” he got down on one knee, opened the box and revealed the beautiful diamond ring he bought you.

your hands covered your mouth as tears escaped your eyes. you were speechless for a moment, mainly because of the words joey said and the intentionality behind them, but also because you didn’t see this coming. at all.

“joey i wouldn’t want to do anything else in this life,” you whispered, offering him your left hand, “so yes, i will marry you,” joe’s face ignited as you responded, sliding the ring over your ring finger. the second he did, you stood him up by the collar and kissed him, your hands cupping his face. your lips mingled together, every emotion and every ounce of adoration you had for each other pouring out of you. joe’s hands found their way to your face, cupping your cheeks as you firmly kissed him. it was a warm embrace, and even as you kissed him tears still streamed down both of your faces.

finally pulling away, you rested your forehead against his.

“i love you, so much, joseph burrow,” you whispered, looking into his eyes.

“i love you, future mrs. burrow,” he hummed as he dipped his head in for another kiss.

ok ok yes i have no idea what an engagement speech sounds like (or if that’s still a thing, some people just pop the question) so if these sound like vows IM SORRY

[cressidagrey]

The Queen of Romantasy and the Race Car Prince - Chapter 3

Pairing: Lando Norris x Elizabeth "Lizzie" Treshton (Original Character)

Summary:

Elizabeth Treshton—bestselling romantasy author, queen of fae heartbreak, and sworn devotee of a carefully structured routine—never expected her service dog to abandon protocol and diagnose a Formula 1 driver with something. But that’s exactly what happens when Mara the wonder-dog ditches Lizzie’s side to aggressively alert to none other than Lando Norris in the middle of a coffee shop.

Warnings and Notes: 

Mention of epilepsy, seizures and service animals. I don't myself suffer from epilepsy, so I asked my IRL friend, who thankfully was nice enough to let me ask her all the questions I could come up with. The rest I asked Reddit. So everything that's wrong...that's totally my fault and not on purpose.

As always big thanks to @llirawolf , who listens to me ramble

Lizzie’s books were doorstoppers. Literally. So thick that Lando just about managed to shove all three of them into his backpack…and nearly broke the zipper while doing that.

He just hoped that him buying these books wasn’t gonna show up on social media any time soon but he didn’t have much trust in that.

He could already imagine the field day that people would have with seeing him of all people buying romance and fantasy books. (Or romantasy as Lizzie had called them…)

The cashier at the bookstore had checked him out with a slightly puzzled look, and she almost seemed to be holding back a grin.

And it wasn’t like Lando hadn’t already started listening to the dramatised audiobook version either…he just figured he should have options, y‘know? 

Especially when that Ciaran guy with the wings was voiced by some Scottish bloke with a voice like gravel. Meanwhile, Astrid had the lilting accent of Wales in her voice… and then there was the fact that some of the…scenes sounded rather… they were definitely not appropriate for…company.

Still he thought that he could probably listen to another few hours of that on the flight…or he would just like…skip…the…some of the stuff that Lizzie had apparently written and that made him think about things that he probably shouldn’t be thinking about…especially not with a Race coming up and the fact that the girl he had gone on two dates with was an ocean away. 

Still, thank god for private flights. It was just gonna be him and Oscar and Max, who would come along to Miami.

Maybe Lando should have known that it was a bad idea. He had imagined it so easily. Put on head phones, put on the audiobook and zone out for a little while…

Instead Lando managed to not actually pair his headphones with his phone… And seconds later his phone was blaring “A Spring of Secrets and Thorns” for Oscar and Max to hear, including a particular… intimate scene he had reached…

His wings spread wide as he pulled her closer, the heat of his body enveloping hers as they shared a heated kiss. Ciaran’s hand traced the curve of Astrid’s back, his wings brushing her skin as the tension between them grew unbearable…

Oscar and Max simultaneously turned their heads toward Lando, eyes wide, their expressions somewhere between shock and amusement.

Oscar's eyebrows were raised so high, they almost touched his hairline. He looked like he was barely holding back a fit of laughter. Even Max looked amused.

Lando just slumped back in his seat, feeling his face grow hot. He didn't need a mirror to know that he was turning bright red. He fumbled with his phone, desperately trying to turn it off.

“What the hell is that?” Max finally choked out.

“Are you listening to racy audiobooks now?” Oscar demanded.

Lando's fingers finally closed around the power button on his phone, cutting off the sound. He avoided their eyes, knowing he looked guilty as hell.

"It's nothing," he mumbled, trying to sound nonchalant.

Oscar just burst out laughing. "Oh yeah? Sounded like it was definitely something, mate."

Lando felt like he could melt into the seat, his face practically glowing.

“Wait,” Oscar said suddenly. “I think I know that book. Is that the Astrid and Ciaran book? Lily’s been going on about it for months. That’s her favorite series. I didn’t know you were a romance guy, Lando.”

Lando's eyes widened in horror. Of course, Oscar would know what book it was. There nearly never ended a day without Oscar being texted by his girlfriend about whatever new book Lily was currently reading. 

"I am definitely not a romance guy," he protested, trying to save what little dignity he had left.

But Max was grinning now, clearly enjoying the situation. "Oh, so you just happen to have a romance/fantasy book on your phone for... for what reason, exactly?" his best friend asked him, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“It’s Lizzie’s favourite,” he blurted out. “I just wanted to see what the fuss is about.”

It wasn’t the whole truth, but it was..well. He wasn’t about to tell Oscar and Max that Lizzie was the actual author of that book series…he would probably neer live down the teasing for reasding her books then…though now that Lando was thinking about it, he wasn’t quite sure that telling them that he was reading her favourite books was much better. 

“Lizzie?” Oscar asked curiously.

“Hasn’t Lando told you? He finally managed to ask out the cafe girl,"Max said drily. “You know the one he has been crushing on for months.”

Max's words hung in the air for a moment, and Lando shot him a poisonous look. Max just smirked back like the cocky bastard he was, clearly enjoying throwing Lando under the bus.

Oscar looked surprised, eyes wide as he turned his gaze to Lando. "Wait, seriously? You managed to ask her out?"

Lando sighed, knowing there was no going back now. He should’ve known better than to let Max in on his relationship with Lizzie in the first place. And now, of course he would go and blurt it out in front of Oscar. “Yeah, I did, okay?” he admitted, though his tone was defensive.

“Finally,” Oscar said with a shake of his head. “It was getting depressing.”

Lando shot him a glare but didn’t argue. 

Max was, predictably, trying not laugh.  “It was kind of pathetic,” he said with a grin.

“Piss off, both of you,” Lando grumbled. “I didn’t know what to say to her, alright? It’s complicated.” Lando defended himself.

“Mate, you spent three months buying pastries you didn’t even like in a cafe so you could stare at a random girl. That’s not complicated, that’s obsessive. And then you pawned off said pastries to every poor unsuspecting McLaren engineer you could find,” Oscar said with a laugh.

“Lando, please tell me you didn’t actually do that?” Max asked, sounding like he was holding back a laugh.

Lando felt his face grow hotter. He’d hoped Oscar wouldn’t mention that particular fact.

“I mean …” he hedged, but a look from Oscar shut him up real fast.  “Okay, yeah, maybe I did,” he admitted, reluctantly. “But it’s not that big a deal, alright?”

“How did you even finally manage to ask her out?” Oscar asked with an unbelieving laugh. “You did ask her out, right? You didn’t like…stalk her and found out her favourite book some other way?”

“Of course, I asked her out, you jerk,” Lando shot back, feeling his embarrassment turn into irritation. “And no, I didn’t stalk her. I just asked her.”

Max laughed, clearly still finding this whole thing highly amusing. “Her dog finally took pity of him,” he quipped to Oscar. “She got a service dog that alerted to Lando, then he somehow managed to get her number. How was that dinner by the way?”

He could feel his cheeks heating up again as Max reminded him of that part.

“It was…nice,” he muttered, hoping they would move on from the topic.

Oscar was watching him with an amused gleam in his eyes. “And now you are trying to impress her even further by reading books you would normally never touch?” he teased.

Lando huffed. “It’s not like that,” he said defensively. “I’m just…trying new things. Broadening my horizons.”

“Reading romance books is broadening your horizons?” Max asked, clearly trying not to laugh again. “That’s a new one.”

Lando gritted his teeth, his temper flaring. He knew they were just winding him up, but it was starting to get annoying. “You know what, forget it,” he snapped.

“Fine by me,” Oscar said, still grinning like the bastard he was. “But I’ve got a feeling that you’re gonna get hooked on those books.”

Lando rolled his eyes but didn't respond. He had no intention of telling them that he was already a fourth of the way into the first book…and that actually, he really wanted to know what happened between Ciaran and Astrid. And what the heck was going on with Quinn? He didn’t trust that guy at all…

“And who knows,” Oscar continued. “Maybe reading all those romance books will help you woo your cafe girl. You know when the dog needed to help you ask her out…”

“Don’t you dare say a thing about Mara,” Lando snapped. “She’s a wonder dog! Do you know how important service dogs are for people with epilepsy?”

Oscar stared at him, blinking twice, clearly surprised by his outburst. 

“No need to be so touchy about it,” Max said, holding up his hands in mock surrender. “But still, you’re a world-class racing driver, and a Labrador had more game than you,” he teased, clearly enjoying Lando’s increasing irritation.

“She has epilepsy?” Oscar asked curiously. “One of my mates from boarding school has that.”

Lando nodded, his irritation easing slightly. “Yeah,” he said, trying to rein in his earlier irritation. “She can have seizures without warning. They can be really bad, so the dog is trained to let her know when one is coming...She had another seizure a day before we were supposed to go out to dinner, so we had dinner at her home instead."

Oscar grimaced in sympathy. "That sucks, man," he said sincerely. "Is she doing alright, though?"

Lando nodded. "Yeah, she's doing fine now," he said, his tone noticeably softer. "They just leave her feeling like garbage, but she's mostly fine. It's just...it freaks me out, you know," he said with a grimace. "She can't control her seizures obviously, but they leave her feeling so shitty and there is nothing that I or anybody else can do to make her feel better."

“Sounds pretty rough,” Max said, now sounding sincere as well. “But it’s nice that she has a service dog,” he added, nodding at Lando. “That’s gotta help.”

Oscar watched him with an unreadable expression on his face. "Don't bite off my head, alright?" He said carefully. "But...have you thought about what that is going to mean in your relationship going forward? She will always have epilepsy, Lando. That's not going to be an illness she will ever grow out of or get healed from. Even when they find a medication that makes her mostly seizure free...she will still always have it. Will you be able to deal with that?"

Lando tensed at the question. He had thought about it before, of course, how could he not? "It's not like I'm going to dump her because she has epilepsy," he snapped, though there was a hint of defensiveness in his voice. "I'm not an arsehole."

"That's not what I meant," Oscar said drily. "I mean, that she is probably not going to come along with you on one of your night clubs night outs, with flashing lights and plenty of alcohol. She's also not one of the random super model girlfriends that you date for three weeks and then dump and never talk to again."

Lando bristled at the mention of his "supermodel girlfriends", but he knew there was truth to what Oscar was saying. Lizzie was different, and he had known that from the start.

"I know that," he said, his tone a little bit more defensive than he intended it to be. "I'm not an idiot. I know this is different than what I'm used to. But it's not like she can't go anywhere just because of her epilepsy. She can still have fun."

"Yeah, she totally can," Max agreed. "And I'm pretty sure no one is saying that she can't, man."

Oscar nodded in agreement. "Of course she can, I'm not questioning that. But what I'm trying to say is...if this is going to become serious, do you think that you can deal with it? It's not just going to be the epilepsy, I know that. She's going to have other issues and problems and things that are going to affect both of you. Are you going to be alright with that?"

Lando exhaled heavily, running a hand through his hair. He knew they weren't trying to be assholes, but they were throwing a lot of hard questions at him.

"I don't know," he admitted, his voice quiet. "I've never had anything like this before. But...I like her, alright? Like, a lot. And it feels different...and like...like it's going to be worth it. Nothing that is worth fighting for is going to come to you easy," he said seriously. "I am not afraid of a challenge."

Oscar and Max were quiet for a moment, both of them looking at him with expressions of surprise and respect respectively. They clearly hadn’t expected him to express himself in that way.

“Damn, mate,” Oscar said finally. “Who are you and what have you done with Lando Norris?”

Lando rolled his eyes but couldn’t help the hint of a smile that curled at the corners of his lips. “Piss off, the both of you,” he said, though his words lacked any real heat.

Max snickered a little. “Okay, we’re going to let you continue listening to your racy audiobooks now.”

"Maybe I should actually read them too," Oscar said thoughtfully. "I mean, Lily loves them."

"Want the hardcovers?" Lando asked, rummaging through his backpack to throw them in Oscar's direction. "Knock yourself out."

Oscar caught the books and looked at them with a look of amusement. Then he gave Lando a smirk. "You sure you are not secretly a fangirl, Norris?"

Lando rolled his eyes again. "Shut up."

"It's even the special edition with sprayed edges," Oscar teased.

"The internet would just love a picture of the two of you reading romance books," Max said drily.

"Go and text Pietra and I bet you that she has heard of these books as well," Oscar said drily. "Seasons of Fate is seemingly what every women between the ages of 20 and 30 is reading right now."

[makethatelevenrings]

Torture and Trust // S. Riley x f!reader

warnings: waterboarding, reader is physically hit and tortured, reader is threatened with sexual assault in one (1) line, canon-typical violence, swearing

A part two to this but also doesn't need to be read before this. I'm kind of making a little universe in my head but idk. We vibin'.

It was the shock of cold water smashing against your face that woke you up. To be honest, you weren’t really asleep. You had been drifting between the space between consciousness and sleep, lured there from a few nasty hits to the head and exhaustion.

It was supposed to be a simple recon mission before the rest of the team came in to aid the retrieval of an asset. It was a warehouse tucked away in the streets of Tokyo that was apparently the hub of a human trafficking ring. MI5 had tasked the military to dispatch a SpecOps team since British citizens were targeted, something that had you grumbling under your breath because it shouldn’t take someone’s fucking citizenship to determine if they needed help. Explosives would be a bad idea considering how metropolitan the area was, even if it wasn’t very busy in this area. So you and Lieutenant Riley were tasked with figuring out a solid entry point and a tally of guards.

Simon had agreed to split up so he could canvass the west side of the building and see how many guards were stationed while you took the east side. It just so happened that the second-in-command to shithead in charge himself spotted the flash of your rifle scope and the next thing you know, you were strapped to a chair in the middle of the warehouse.

Your chest heaved as you caught your breath and you let out a small laugh as you regarded the two men in front of you. Being in the SAS, you were no secret to torture. Everyone knew that one step of the training was to go through seventy-two hours of pure hell and sleep deprivation to see who broke and who didn’t. This was child’s play compared to that.

“Your swing is getting better,” you said through bloodied teeth. “But that follow through is what we need to work on.”

A hand fisted in the back of your head and shoved your forward, directly into the trough of water they had placed in front of you. Waterboarding was always an interesting exercise. You knew it was coming and had inhaled sharply, focusing your attention on anything but the air slowly leaking from your lungs as he held you in there for maybe a minute. Your thoughts drifted to other things, like the ramen you and Simon split in the safehouse the night before. It had been a few months since he grew comfortable enough with taking the mask off in front of you so now you savored the few moments you saw of his face. He seemed almost tentative without his mask, as though he was aware of how beastly his scars made him look.

You pondered over if he knew just how beautiful he was.

They yanked you back out of the water and you didn’t know what time it was. It was certainly darker than it had been when you were first nabbed from your lookout point. Certainly long enough that Simon was aware of your predicament. So that meant you were running out of time. Two in front of you, three guards behind. Your hands strained against the rope and duct tape mixture that bound your wrists and ankles to the sides of the chairs.

“Who do you work for?” the boss hissed. You blinked up at him innocently through the water that clung to your lashes and shrugged.

“Can’t a girl just chill around here? God forbid women do anything.” You braced yourself for a hit that never came. Instead, he grabbed your jaw and squeezed, forcing your teeth to clack together with a sharp jolt and a bite to your tongue, adding more blood to mix with the cuts already present from the lackluster punches delivered earlier.

“Not with that level of weaponry. Try again.”

“You got me. I’m one of Santa’s elves and he wanted to make sure you were being a good boy this year. I’d hate to let him know that-” Your words were cut off as you were shoved back into the water. Ramen. How many meals had you two shared at this point? He had even started bringing you dinner to your office since he could take his mask off there rather than in the chow hall. You wouldn’t lie, you were starting to get tired. Your lungs burned from the fight to breathe and inhale the water, but you tried to shut off the small part of your brain that sent up signals of panic.

You didn’t need to worry, you reminded yourself. Just hold on a little longer.

“If you don’t start giving me real answers, maybe I’ll let some of our clients get it out of you. They’d love that,” the boss snarled when you were let up for air. Your gut tugged uncomfortably at the implication. It was always something that you had to keep in the back of your mind. Being a woman, military or not, always meant that it was a threat held over your head, simply for existing. It was why you were so eager to destroy their whole operation.

“How about you go fuck yourself?” Gathering up the blood and spit in your mouth, you forced your tongue back and then spat the putrid mix all over his face and the pristine white collar of his shirt. Rage flickered across his face and he stood up straight.

“Get me the pliers. If she won’t talk, we’ll make sure she screams.”

Well, you mused, what was a few less nails and teeth except less maintenance?

As his little goon walked off to whatever evil lair table of doom they had set up, your ears tuned into the silence around you. The typical sounds of the city met your ears, along with…there.

“I’m afraid, boys, that you’re out of time,” you said softly. A smile tugged painfully at your swollen and cut lips but you pushed past the pain. “This has been fun, truly, but I can’t lie and say I’ll miss you.”

The boss’ hand was heavy on the back of your neck as he held you down into the water. Even through the distorted splashes and fuzziness in your mind, you could hear five audible pops. You knew what they saw in their last moments. You knew that the Ghost emerged from the shadows, steps silent despite the fact that he was more muscle than man, and you knew that these men felt fear seconds before a bullet silenced their cruel minds.

He tugged you up out of the water and you inhaled deeply, the sound harsh and grating on your sensitive ears. Blinking the water out of your eyes, you came face to face with a mask that most said elicited a bone deep terror in them.

But not you.

“Right on time,” you panted. He said nothing as he cut the bindings holding you down and inspected the way that they had rubbed some of your skin away, leaving it tender and bleeding. Simon turned to look at the leader of all of this and you realized that he didn’t kill him. The man was dragging himself towards his discarded gun on the ground, blood oozing from his ruined kneecap. Ghost stalked towards him and lifted him up and away from his weapon. He regarded the little weasel coolly and then glanced back at you. You tried to push yourself up and out of the chair but your legs shook under you and instead, you collapsed back against the metal.

“Warehouse is clear,” Soap announced as he, Gaz, and Price entered. “Christ, bonnie, you look like shite.”

“You charmer,” you muttered. Gaz rushed to your side to help you up and you were grateful for your team. Your friends.

“This him?” Price asked as he joined Simon.

“Yeah.” It was the first time he’d spoken since he entered the building. “Keep him alive. I want to be the one to interrogate him.”

If it were anyone else, Price would agree. But seeing the slight tremor in Simon’s hands where he gripped the man’s suit jacket and then looking over to where Gaz was supporting your half-conscious form, he knew that putting Simon alone in a room with the man would result in a very messy clean up.

“We’ll worry about that when we get them back to base,” Price said. “We need to get her to medical.”

Four days into your medical leave and you were growing antsy. Soap and Gaz tried to keep you entertained and Price offered you an opportunity to yell at some cadets, but you were bored. You missed moving your body more than just the walk from your room to your office to the chow hall and back. But the doctor had threatened to strap you to a bed for a week while you let your body get back to normal after, and her words were, “you got your shit rocked. I know you SpecOps bastards think you’re invincible but anyone would need to take a fucking break after being tortured.” So, here you were, sitting in your office and writing up a mission plan for another team because Price knew you were getting twitchy without anything to do.

Two knocks, sharp and perfunctory, caught your attention. You called for whoever it was to enter, but you already knew who it would be. How many times had he laid that same knock upon your door? You once said that he might as well move into your office and he had regarded it for a moment thoughtfully, as if he was genuinely considering it.

“Four days of silence from you. Thought I did something wrong,” you commented lightly as Ghost entered and shut the door behind him. He didn’t take his usual seat, the plush wheelie chair you invested in when you joined the team and realized that he wasn’t leaving anytime soon. Simon dropped a tray onto your desk and then stalked away, his shoulders tense and bristling like a scared cat.

A quick glance at the time confirmed that your trap had worked. He always noticed if you missed a meal, usually because you were invested in something you were working on. Everyone had their own quirk or vice and that was yours.

He brought you beef stew over rice, a quintessential British meal that was surprisingly appetizing despite the cook’s minimal care. A shiny red apple sat beside it and, as if he read your thoughts, Simon whirled around and yanked it off of the tray. He extracted a knife from his pocket and started to carve the apple into slices that he dropped onto the tray and then turned around and began to stare at the wall once more. You simply grabbed one of the slices and chewed on it while waiting for him to speak.

“That was stupid,” his rough voice broke the silence. You scoffed and stopped chewing.

“What, getting captured? I didn’t fucking plan on it.”

“No. For not trying to escape.”

A dry, startled laugh escaped you and you scrubbed the heel of your hand over your forehead. “Five men with guns and me with nothing, tied to a chair. Yeah, fair chance of running without a bullet in the back.”

“You didn’t even try.”

“I didn’t have to. I knew you were coming.”

He turned to glare at you from behind that infamous mask and you cocked your head to the side. “That doesn’t scare me, Simon, and you know it. Take the mask off.”

He hesitated and then reached up and yanked it off, revealing the sharp line of his jaw, the scars around his mouth, and those freckles that speckled across his nose and cheeks. You could see him better and, therefore, read him better. His eyes told you he was angry. His tight jaw told you he was scared.

“You can’t just sit there and fucking die because you’re waiting for me, you can’t do that.”

“Why? You’re my teammate. I trust that you would come for me.”

“What if I hadn’t?” You shook your head at his question, at the absurdity of it. Was he hearing himself? Was he that consumed by whatever foolish notion that had somehow worked its way into his head? You pushed away from your desk and stood up so you could cross the floor to stand toe to toe with him. 

“What if what if what if, fuck the what ifs, Simon. You. Wouldn’t. Leave. Me. Behind.” Each word was punctuated with a jab to his chest.

“And what if I had been injured, yeah? What then?” God, he was insufferable.

“You really mean to tell me that you wouldn’t crawl through broken glass to get to one of us.”

“That’s not the point!”

“Would you have this conversation with Soap or Gaz or Price? Then why are you so insistent about it with me? I was doing my job. Are you saying I can’t trust you? Trust my team? Because I can. I do. Don’t start telling me I shouldn’t.”

“You can. For fuck’s sake, you can.”

“You said it yourself, Simon, this job is dangerous and I knew the risks going in so I don’t know why you’re so insistent on thi-“

He tasted like nicotine and mint gum with maybe a hint of gunpowder, something so uniquely him. His lips pressed against yours with surprising gentleness and he cradled your face between his hands like you were the most precious glass figure he’d ever held. You fisted your hands in the lapels of his uniform jacket and sank into his touch. His fingers traced the skin of your cheeks, careful to not irritate the cuts you sustained days prior, and down to cup the back of your neck to draw you closer. A soft whimper escaped you at the sensation of his strong body pressing against yours.

You could easily hold your own in a fight, but the knowledge that this Adonis of a man was by your side through the hell of war was a comfort.

You needed to breathe but it wasn’t the painful reminder like it was when being tortured. His hands slid from your neck to cradling your jaw as you pulled away, settling back down on your heels.

“Don’t make me bury you,” he whispered, his forehead still pressed against yours.

You nodded, too dazed to say anything noteworthy. His thumbs stroked over your jaw and you blinked up at him.

“Was that a one time thing to shut me up or…”

“Fuckin’ insufferable, you are,” he grunted but leaned down to kiss you sweetly. There wasn’t much you could associate with Simon Riley and being sweet, but the tenderness in his touch made you want to hold him and keep him away from the world that had hurt him.

You felt his fingers brush against a nasty bruise on your jaw from a well aimed hit and saw his eyes darken.

“Did you question him already?”

“We’ve got a list of buyers that MI6 and Laswell are confirming right now,” he affirmed. Good. The mission was a success then.

“And how did you get this information?” you asked.

You met the gaze of the Ghost and didn’t flinch. He chuckled low and deep in his chest and tilted your chin up so he could see one of the cuts better.

“I did everything he did to you,” he said fiercely. "But I made sure it was permanent."

You moved your hand up to tangle with the short hair at the base of his neck and pressed your lips against his. Pulling back so just a small gap separated you, you murmured out a single sentence.

"I trusted you would."

[hangup119]

FEELS LIKE A THRILLER! ᯓᡣ𐭩

18. all's well that ends well word count | 3k

YOU’VE BEEN FRIENDS WITH ANTON LEE SINCE YOU CAN EVEN REMEMBER. You met each other as kids, forced to hang out with each other at a house party his parent’s had invited your family to. Given that you two were around the same age in comparison to the other kids who were still oblivious babies or whiny toddlers, it was only natural for you and Anton to gravitate towards each other: wherever he went you would follow, your fondest memories with him being when you both constantly abused your ‘big sister’ and ‘big brother’ privileges to boss the other kids around. 

But in comparison to you who always got a little too mean towards the little kids, Anton was much more lenient; it was why they often favored him over you, which you didn’t really mind. That meant they’d bother you less during parties. But it was still you who hung out with Anton the most and it was you who stuck to his side even if the younger kids didn’t really want you around. Then middle school came, and you two gradually drifted apart until you had your own set of friend groups in high school—you were off with Minji and Sunoo and Taesan and Jaehyun and Danielle, and he was constantly surrounded by other guys you didn’t really care about (all except for a certain someone, of course, but that’s later on into the future). The house parties happened less and less, the little kids grew up and eventually left the two of you alone, and it was only until he found out about your little crush on Seunghan did you and Anton finally start bringing back the friendship that was slowly becoming forgotten. 

Anton is… a good kid, which is why everyone is always drawn to him. He’s always had a heart as big as his head, so perhaps the reason why you’re this nervous about meeting with him after what seemed like days since your fight is because you don’t want to lose him again. Drifting apart is natural, friends fight—you know all that, but at the very least you did not want to end it on bad terms. You don’t want your last memories of your childhood best friend being bitter, which is why you must absolutely not mess this one chance up. 

“…Did you ever, like, have a crush on him?” Seunghan inquires slowly, tapping his pen against his chin languidly as he sits on the floor beside your bed. 

You give him a small, questioning glare. “Why do you ask?” you start, suspicious. “Because you think girls and boys simply can’t be friends?” 

Seunghan shrugs. “Yeah?” 

“Wait, really? You really think that?” your shoulders slumped.

“I mean,” Seunghan says, leaning back on your bed. “Anton’s pretty handsome, surely you’ve had a crush on him when you were younger, right?” 

You consider it. “Hmm… well, I guess I did.” 

“Really?” Seunghan seems more shocked rather than appalled. You hoped that was a good thing.

“In seventh grade, I think,” you clarify, “that was when he started getting…cute, I guess, and he was also getting more involved in swimming. Everyone started finding him attractive too, so it wasn’t just me. It was like being attracted to him was the new trend, or something.” 

“What happened after that?” 

“Well, he got a girlfriend around that time, so I quickly lost all the interest I had in him. I think I was super in-denial about it, too, so it’s not like anything would have happened between us because I didn’t want it happening at all,” you blandly respond. “Anyway, whenever I think about dating Anton, I just keep remembering about how he’d always cling and cry to his mom for hours when something didn't go his way back when we were little. So, major turn-off.” 

Seunghan laughs loudly, and you watch him fondly as he tries to regain his senses. “Seriously?” he asks, tilting his head to the side. 

“Seriously.” 

Seunghan looks at you thoughtfully. “So you lost interest in him because he got a girlfriend, but why wasn’t it the same when it came to me?” 

You pause, blinking slowly at him as shock invades your expression. Seunghan merely stares right back at you, an easygoing smile on his face while he waits for your response. 

“I…” your words lose you, and you desperately try to grab at them. But Seunghan is patient, he waits for you to gather them, leaning his cheek against the cap of his knee while he sits beside you on the floor of your room. “I don’t… know?” 

His smile widens. “You don’t know?” 

You feel your face flush. “Well, I mean,” you start off bashfully, looking away from his prying gaze. “This and that are different… I knew Anton way before I started crushing on him, but I barely knew you. Plus, I realized I just saw him as a brother, but you… we weren’t even friends in the first place…” 

Your face is probably as hot as a whistling kettle after you finished talking, and Seunghan’s amused smile isn’t helping your situation in the slightest. 

“Don’t start teasing me,” you grumble, and Seunghan just laughs again, moving closer to pinch your cheek. 

“But you’re so cute,” Seunghan coos, inching closer while you attempt to push his invasive hands away from your face. “You’re my cute girl, the cutest ever, I just wanna—” 

A loud knock interrupts him, and you jump at the sound. 

“Anton,” you gasp, staring back at Seunghan with wide eyes. 

His silence enables you to aggressively push him away from you, and he gently stumbles back into the opposite way as you scramble to get onto your feet. He gives you an offended look, and you look back at him with an apologetic expression only to be met with a playful roll of his eyes. You hype yourself up as you make your way to the door, before opening it without further ado. 

Anton blinks down at you. “Oh, hey,” he casually says. 

“Hey!” you respond, suspiciously a little out of breath. 

Anton glances at Seunghan who’s keeping himself busy with his laptop by the back, looks at your flushed face, before making a disgusted expression. “Ew, don’t tell me you two were making out just now…” 

Seunghan freezes, the tips of his ears turning red while your jaw almost hits the floor. 

You instinctively hit Anton’s arm. “No, we weren’t, idiot!” 

He yelps, nursing his arm. “Ow! You didn’t have to hit me, jeez… I came here in peace, and this is how you treat me?” 

You cringe. “Sorry…”

Anton quickly digresses. He meets your hesitant gaze, quietly asking, “Can we talk outside?” 

“Oh, uh, sure,” you blinked. There it was—the Anton you knew when you were kids, always so shy despite being in the company of his friends. But the situation is a little more than just that, so you understand where he was coming from. “In the hallway?” 

“Yeah, it won’t be quick,” Anton confirms as you step out of the room, taking one last longing look at Seunghan, who merely sends you back a reassuring smile as if he was saying ‘goodluck!’ to the both of you. (You refrained from eating your fist at how cute he looked.)

Out in the hall, the air turns into suffocating awkwardness you never thought you’d have with Anton Lee. You don’t remember being this… tense around his presence, as if you’re walking around eggshells around him no matter how nonchalant the two of you tried to act. You try to recall the last time you felt this awkward around him, but you can only come up with the brief moment in middle school when you harbored a crush on him that hadn’t even lasted a week. You had felt awkward around him because viewing Anton in a romantic light never really seemed that appealing, but that feeling had immediately washed away when you realized all you ever wanted out of him was his friendship and nothing else. 

Of course, you can’t say the same about Anton. It’s not as if you can read his mind despite knowing him for so long now, but now you wonder if he’s experienced the same feelings you once did. And, in some part of you, you wonder if he harbors any romantic feelings for you right now—even if the rest of your friends tried to hide it, you weren’t oblivious to Jaehyun’s knowing glances whenever you and Anton were in the same room. 

You just didn’t want to acknowledge such things ever again, not when your friendship with him has been sailing pretty well these past few years already. 

Well, until now, that is.

“So…” you trail off, looking at his shoulder instead of his face. 

“I’m sorry,” Anton immediately says, voice quieter than ever. 

Oh. 

“I shouldn’t have acted so weird after promising I’d set you up with Seunghan,” he continues, scratching his nape. “I never meant to insinuate that your feelings for him were shallow. I know how much you like him, but I ended up projecting my doubts into you and ruining our friendship in the process anyway. I honestly really, really wanted you guys to get together because I know that’s what makes you happy, and it’s also what makes Seunghan happy, so—” 

“I forgive you, Anton,” you interrupt, before looking down at the floor. “And I’m also sorry; I shouldn’t have cornered you like that in the groupchat. I just… I just hated the thought of you disapproving of my relationship with him, even though you were only worried about us. And I don’t blame you for being suspicious of me, too, because I was honestly starting to falter during the first stages of becoming close with Seunghan, but I ended up really liking him anyway. And I’m glad you helped us get closer, really; I just wish we went about our concerns differently and honestly.”

“Yeah,” Anton agrees, smiling lightly, “but it’s okay now. You got your man, and I did my job. We’re all good. Right?” 

“Yeah,” you repeat. “Life is good.”

“Eh, well, not… really? I have a composition assignment due in forty-eight hours and I haven’t gotten a single note in,” Anton says dryly. “I need to lock in right now.” 

You push him, and he looks back at you in offense. You smiled, saying, “Lock in with us, then. We were just doing homework, for your information.” 

Anton grumbles. “Yeah, right… I’d still third-wheel anyway.” 

“Don’t be a big baby, ‘ton,” you roll your eyes. “We’re not gonna kiss in front of you.” 

“Please don’t put that image in my mind. I’ll vomit right in this hall.” 

“And I’ll make you clean it up, then I’m gonna tell your mommy how good of a job you did.” 

“Kay why ess.” 

You pause, looking at him thoughtfully. Anton slowly looks back at you, and you send him a small smile. 

“...Thanks for looking out for us,” you say, quietly, “you’re a—...you’re a good best friend.”

“Naturally,” Anton snorts, and you give him a blank look. He quickly feigns a cough, saying, “You’re my best friend, too. Of course I’ll look out for you.” 

It feels like a weight has been lifted off of your shoulders. 

“...Can you believe that I had a crush on you during seventh grade?” you joke, intending to lighten the mood. 

“Yeah?” Anton raises a brow at you, surprisingly unfazed. 

You blink. 

“Wait, seriously?” 

“Yeah, I knew you liked me at that time,” Anton casually replies. “But then you started liking Intak from choir. By the way, he also knew you liked him—he told me at our last concert.” 

“What?! How?!” 

“...You’re not that slick, you do know that, right? The only reason Seunghan never knew was because you barely talked to him.” Anton explained dryly, sending you a disapproving look. “You were too—admirer-like. It gets sad to look at sometimes. Those four years could’ve been shortened to, like—I don’t know, three months? If you just freakin’ talked to him or something.”

Your eyes narrow. Anton raises his arms up in defense. 

“But all’s well that ends well, right?” he quickly says, voice laced with a tinge of panic. “Let’s not drag this scene out now…” 

You sigh in response, but oblige nonetheless. “You’re right. All’s well that ends well.” 

You smile at Anton again, feeling content. You hope he shares the sentiment. 

Just in time, Seunghan pops his head out from your door, looking both ways before finding the two of you crowding to the right. The creaking sound the door made as it opened forces yours and Anton’s attention towards the interruption, only to find a sheepish Seunghan stare right back at you. 

“You guys have been out here for a while—just checking,” he says, ruffling his already messy black hair. “My bad.” 

Although he tries to play it off with an air of nonchalance, you think you sense a hint of worry in his tone regardless. The thought makes you both uneasy and excited at the same time, which shouldn't even make sense but it just does.

Because Seunghan’s your boyfriend. And sometimes boyfriends get jealous when their girlfriend’s are alone with another guy. God, you shouldn’t be liking that sentence as much as you actually do. 

“It’s all good, man,” Anton assures, waving a hand placatingly. Awkward again, but that’s none of your concern anymore—that’s just how Anton is anyway. He bites the inside of his cheek, flickering his gaze between the two of you. “Um, so… I think I’ll go now. See you guys later.”

“What?” Seunghan exclaims, a little too dejected. “So soon? You should stay and study with us. I know you still have that composition assignment to work on, and if you go back to your dorm now I know Sungchan’s just going to distract you.” 

Anton winces. “Erm… I think I’d rather have that than third whe—” 

You interrupt him. “He’s right! We’re better company than Sungchan anyway. Stay. Let’s get some food or something. And pull an all-nighter or whatever.” 

Seunghan nods excitedly. Anton looks at the both of you incredulously. 

“What the heck? You guys haven’t even been dating for a month, yet you’re already so in-sync of being annoying,” he says. “You’re quite literally making me pick between two evils right now.” 

“So you’re staying?” Seunghan asks, grinning widely. You share the same, hopeful expression. “The lesser evil is definitely us, right?”

“...I’m not so sure about that.”

“Pleaaaaase, Anton, we promise we’ll be good, supportive study-buddies!” Seunghan needlessly insists. And you should be a little irked that your boyfriend’s begging another man to hang out with you two, but you surprisingly aren’t. One more company didn’t hurt, after all. 

So Anton can’t even believe what he’s about to say next:

“Fine, but Y/N’s paying for food!” 

You and Seunghan immediately cheer. 

“Wait, what?” you ask dumbly. 

But you eventually relent as the other two start making their way down the hall, an echo of a nonsensical conversation picking up. At least it didn’t take that much of a resistance from Anton to agree to yours and Seunghan’s invitation, and sure, it would’ve been nicer to just hang out with your boyfriend, but you also didn’t mind having your best friend tagging along as well. He was, after all, most of the reason why the two of you got together in the first place, so you more or less owed it to him. Plus, a hang out will slowly dissolve that suffocating awkwardness that has been circling between the two of you these past few weeks despite having already made up just minutes ago anyway, so really—all’s well that ends well. 

When you finally catch up to them, Seunghan is the first one to speak up. 

“So, Anton, was there ever a time you liked Y/N?” 

The two of you practically choke on air. 

“Excuse me,” you say. 

Anton’s response is quieter. “You heard us…?” 

Seunghan laughs. “Sorry, I got curious…” he says although he doesn’t sound all that remorseful. “Did you, though?” 

“How can you just ask that?” Anton squeaks out. 

“No, wait, I’m curious too!” you exclaim. “I can’t just be the one who had feelings for you at some point—you know how embarrassing that is?!” 

Seunghan nods along. “Yeah! So embarrassing!” 

“You guys are crazy, you’re literally her boyfriend!” Anton cries out, before slowly turning away. “...And yes, I did like her back at some point.” 

You almost trip on nothing. “What?”

Anton awkwardly avoids your gaze. 

Seunghan hollers, and you send him a pointed look. He quiets down.

You look concerningly horrified when you ask Anton. “Wait… you’re for real? When? Why? How?”

“In seventh grade,” he replies meekly. “It just happened, I guess.” 

You and Seunghan almost go into shock. 

“Holy shit,” he whispers, staring at Anton with wide eyes. “You guys could’ve been—oh, my God. Wow.” 

“Wait, so if you knew I liked you, then why didn’t you…?” you trail off, confused. 

Anton rolls his eyes indignantly. “By the time I did have feelings for you, you were already over it. What was I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know—fight for her?” Seunghan suggests. “Such a wasted opportunity…”

“Dude,” Anton says dryly. “If I did that, you guys wouldn’t be dating right now!”

“Oh, right.” 

You snort. “I guess it just means we aren’t meant for each other, huh?” you joke.

Seunghan almost looks sad. “Well, when you put it like that… I guess it really was a ‘right person, wrong time’ kind of situation, huh?” 

“Yeah,” Anton says. “I like this outcome better, though. I like you guys together.” 

You look at him pitifully. “Anton, you don’t have to be sad…” 

“I’m not sad.” 

“We’ll find you a partner soon… for all the help you’ve given us… I mean, they probably won’t be as cool and awesome as me, but at least you won’t be lonely anymore…” 

“No thanks. Can we just go get food now?” 

“No, really, Seunghan and I are always here for you. You helped us, so now it’s our turn to help you—what do you think of Wonyoung? She’s pre-med.” 

“Oh! I know someone who’s friends with her, what do you think? I think you guys would be a good match.” 

“Go to hell, the two of you.”

prev | masterlist | next

SUMMARY. pining after hong seunghan has always felt like an unachievable reality; however, just a few months into your first year of college, it seems that the gods have finally listened to your prayers when news breaks out that your long-time crush is single once again.

AUTHOR'S NOTE. hi guys sorry for the longassshhh wait omg. i cant believe it took me this long to finish the reconciliation chapter but ykw... we're here now and that's all that matters. i will never leave u guys hanging ✊anyways this baby is ending in 1 chapter tehee see u next time.

TAGLIST. @shoberi @miyawwn @starwonb1n @yujinxue @revehosh @alwayswook @rksbae @emohoon @nujeskz @ilovejungwonandhaechan @meowbini @nakam00t @siuewnb @cake1box @dearmarklee @kyusqult @snowyseungs @ffixtionista @odxrilove @hisrkive @saeist @lilysflower1 @onlyhyunjin @eternallyhyucks @syzavxy @calumsfringe @yipyipmorals @user7520 @tojis-luver @ilymarkchan @fae-renjun @otblous @injunnie-lemon @jjk-97 @leeis @brachioswrld @i1uvc4ke @soheendo

[starmocha]

My brain ran away with a plot bunny of Zayne and Caleb having been secret lovers as teens/young adults, taking out their sexual frustrations and curiosities on each other knowing that they both will be able to keep it well and truly from MC and Grandma and when Caleb comes back Zayne just launches at him and everyone thinks he’s throwing a punch but its a kiss

I am so sorry for not answering this sooner, but I wanted to write a little something-something with this 👀 it turned out so silly omg

Open Secret (Zayne 𝔁 Caleb)

A deafening silence fell over the room. The bride and groom watched from the side, surprised, as all around guests started whispering quietly amongst themselves.

You sat next to your grandmother, also in a state of shock, never once expecting to witness both of your childhood friends suddenly kissing in the middle of a wedding reception.

“Za…Zayne?” You called out to your plus-one, surprised when he had left your side without a word, and dashed across the room the moment he had heard the name ‘Caleb’. For a moment, everyone had thought an altercation was about to break out between the two young men, but to everyone’s shock, something completely different had happened.

“Y-you…” Caleb panted, his eyes widened as well. “Zayne…you…kissed me. Fuck, what were you thinking?”

Zayne blinked, his ears suddenly red as he realized what he had done in a weakened moment of complete loss of composure. “I…I don’t know,” he admitted, looking away. “I just…it’s been a while.”

Caleb chuckled, amused by the pathetic excuse. “Is that how you greet all of your childhood friends?”

If possible, Zayne grew even redder. He turned away, huffing, trying to regain some sense of dignity. “Stop spewing nonsense.”

“So why did you—wait a minute,” Caleb paused, his brows furrowing in confusion. He pulled Zayne a little closer, sniffing. “Have you been drinking?”

Zayne stiffened. “N-no…”

“You’re lying.”

“Chocolate,” Zayne clarified, embarrassed by his slight tipsy state, “There was a bit…of liquor in the chocolate.”

Caleb laughed. “God, you’re still that fucking bad with alcohol?”

“And it seems you are still so insufferable,” Zayne said, his lips suddenly on Caleb’s again.

“Hey—mmph, god, you are so—fuck—oh, fuck it…”

“Well, it’s about time!” you griped, causing both Zayne and Caleb to freeze and whip their heads in your direction, a look of complete confusion on their faces.

“What do you mean by that?” Caleb demanded, being the first to find his voice. He narrowed his eyes at you suspiciously.

You rolled your eyes. “Please, we’ve all known you two were up to something when we were teens.”

“‘We’?” Caleb questioned, doing a double-take. “Who’s ‘we’?”

“Well, Grandma—” you continued while Caleb started sputtering, nearly choking on air, “A bunch of girls at school—haven’t you ever wondered why no one bothered leaving either of you two chocolates on Valentine’s Day? They all knew you were an item—and also—”

“We were not an item!” Caleb protested loudly, his face and ears completely red. He turned to look at Zayne, who had been in a catatonic state since your revelation. “Well, say something!”

Zayne snapped out of his daze and cleared his throat. “Caleb’s right, we were not an item—”

“Caleb’s dick was literally in your mouth, Zayne.”

Both men looked like they were about to have a heart attack after your latest bombshell reveal. Caleb struggled to speak, his voice several pitches higher, suddenly completely aware everyone was watching them and listening in on the conversation—including his grandmother. “Pipsqueak, stop making things up—"

“I have pictures.”

“Of course you do.”

“Of course she does.”

Both Caleb and Zayne said simultaneously, tone flat, rendered defeated instantaneously. Caleb tried to speak as calmly as he could, silently begging for a meteor to hit earth at this very specific spot right this second. “Pipsqueak…why…do you…have pictures…of…that?”

“It wasn’t intentional,” you said, sulking at the implication in Caleb’s tone. “I wanted you to help with my homework and I thought you said ‘come in,’ so I opened the door, and…you were…cumming. My bad.”

Caleb nearly dropped to the ground in that moment if not for Zayne quickly catching him from behind. Zayne sighed as he shifted his weight, letting Caleb’s arm draped over his shoulders as the other young man leaned against him with sudden jelly legs. Zayne tried to keep his patient, calm tone, but you were really pressing his buttons with all of your roundabout responses. “You still haven’t explained why you took pictures?”

“Financial opportunity,” you answered blankly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“You were going to blackmail us?” Zayne questioned, his eyes widening a little.

“No,” you protested, offended that he would think you would ever do such a thing to them. You explained nonchalantly, “I let the girls in our school look for a price.”

“I feel like such a whore,” Caleb groaned at this piece of information you just shared.

“You moaned like one, too,” You quipped, earning an instant glare from him.

Before any of you could continue this conversation, another voice piped in.

“Sweetie,” your grandmother called out, and suddenly all three of your faces lost color in that moment. “This is all new information to me. I only thought the boys…kissed.”

You backed away nervously when both Zayne and Caleb turned to glare at you with murder in their eyes.

“Oh, um, the hunter’s watch is beeping,” you lied, “I—I better take this.”

“Get back here!” Caleb screamed out, making a mad dash toward you.

Yelping, you took off your heels and quickly bolted out of the wedding venue with two grown men chasing after you yelling bloody murder.

[dsireland86]

Okay can you please make a Emotional Dad Folio x fem reader fic who after a tough and risky labor gets to see his wife and baby safe and sound finally. But even better him finally getting to hold his baby for the first time and just having a full tears and snot breakdown cause he was scared and is just happy they're okay

This is just the sweetest. I had this whole scenario played out in my head before I even wrote it down 😁🥰

Emotional Dad

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I wasn't even sure I wanted kids until the moment my girl came to me with something in her hand. Y/N was glowing and never looked as pretty as she did in that moment when she told me to close my eyes. Her excitement made me excited. After pecking her lips, I closed my eyes. The item she put in my hands weighed about as much as a feather, so when Y/N told me to open my eyes, what I saw wasn't at all what I expected; a pregnancy test with two blue lines. She was pregnant. It was then I realized that the idea of having a baby was really something I wanted, but only because it was with the woman standing in front of me. Picking her up, I hugged and kissed Y/N, assuring her I was thrilled about us having a baby, and as the months went by and her belly grew bigger and bigger, the anticipation of meeting our child grew. Thankfully, our love making didn't stop. Y/N was even more beautiful with our baby growing inside her, making her so irresistible that I found it difficult to keep my hands off of her. The first few months were nothing, but as the baby got bigger so did her belly making it kind of hard. I grew nervous, even after reading everything I did about it, but Y/N reassured me that it was okay and that it wouldn't hurt the baby. After that, it was game on, buddy, and we made some of the best love the two of us had ever had. We were happy, and so ready to meet our little one, but not just yet. There was still a little while to go before that could happen. Or so we thought.

"Nick! Nick! Wake up, please!" Y/N shrieked in pain as she sat up in bed clutching her belly. "Oh god, it freaking hurts." 

Folio sat up, completely startled.

"What is it, sweetheart?" he asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes. "I don't know! Something hurts, really bad, ohhh! Ouch!"

Y/N started crying, gripping the bed sheets tightly. Folio jumped out of bed, slipping on a pair of jeans, socks and his shoes, before grabbing his keys and wallet. Sending a quick text to the guys in a group chat, he leapt over to Y/N's side of the bed.

"Is it contractions? The, er, the ones you say aren't real?" "Braxton Hicks, and no, this is not them. Oh god! Baby, something is wrong!"

Folio placed his hand on his wife's belly, feeling just how active their little one was. But he noticed that something didn't feel right. Lifting Y/N's shirt, the round shape of her belly made him grin. He was definitely going to miss it and the feeling of their baby moving around inside. He leaned down and kissed it while gently running his hands all over, pushing on certain spots and noting things that once felt familiar didn't anymore. In Y/N's lower abdomen where the baby's head should be, there were movements that shouldn't, and feeling up the middle of her belly, he no longer felt the tightness of where the little knees and feet should be. Folio frowned, fearing that what he was thinking might be true. Y/N shrieked in pain, screaming through a loud cry.

"Nick! Make it stop! Please!" she begged, grabbing his arm. "Okay, baby. Alright," he said as calmly as he could. Throwing a shirt on, he helped Y/N up and to the car, running back in to grab the overnight bags.

All the way to the hospital, Y/N held on to her husband's arm, gripping his hand tighter each time the pain came. Her cries and pleas for the pain to stop wrecked his heart and it killed him knowing he couldn't stop it or take any of it away.

"Nick, I love you," Y/N said breathlessly through her pain. "Thank you for being here. Thank you for being so nice."

Folio chuckled.

"I love you, too, Sweetheart. We're going to get through this, okay? It might not seem okay right now, but in the end everything's going to be alright. And hopefully, soon, we'll be holding our baby."

Y/N looked over at him and smiled the best she could despite the pain, nodding quickly right before another wave of pain hit. Finally getting to the hospital, Folio walked Y/N into the labor and delivery ward, calling for help the moment they stepped in. A nurse brought over a wheelchair and helped Y/N sit then wheeled her through a set of double doors as Folio filled out paperwork and informed them on what was happening.

"Wait! Where are you taking her?" Folio asked in a panic, abandoning the paperwork. "Mr. Folio, it's fine. Your wife is being taken to a room. I'll take you there once you're finished."

Nick sighed, running his hand through his hair. He'd been trying his hardest to keep it together for Y/N, but now that he wasn't with her, he felt like he might fall apart. The doors behind him opened and in walked his four brothers, instantly making him feel better.

"What's the word, Folio," Noah asked, his tone thick with concern.

Nick shook his head.

"I'm about to head back. She's in a room, I think." "Do you know what happened? Why is she in so much pain?" asked Jolly.

Folio sighed. "I think, and I could be wrong; God I hope I'm wrong, but I think the baby is breached."

The guys looked at one another, some of them shrugging.

"It means the baby is trying to come out feet and bottom first instead of head first," Folio explained with a sigh. "Oh, fuck no!" Matt cried, biting his knuckle. “Couldn’t that seriously hurt her and the baby?” Nicholas asked.

Before anyone could answer, the double doors opened and a different nurse than before came out.

"Mr. Folio, can you please come with me?" "What's wrong? Is my wife okay?" "Can you please just come with me, sir,” the nurse beckoned Nick towards the double doors.

"Can they come, too?" he asked, nodding at the other four.

The nurse creased her forehead and pursed her lips.

"Are they yours or your wife's family?" "One hundred percent we are," Jolly spoke up.

The nurse cracked a smile, nodding sharply.

"Fine. Follow me."

She led them down the hall, to the right, down another short hall, and to the right again, stopping at a door to a waiting room. Folio looked at her confused.

"Wait. What about the room she was supposed to be in? I thought she was going into a delivery room."

Folio's heart started pounding.

"She was, but then something happened and they had to take her to surgery," the nurse said softly. She opened the door and ushered the boys in. "Hold up! Surgery! What do you mean surgery," Noah snapped.

Nick thought he was going to be sick. He was bent over, breathing hard and trying not to panic, but the thought of something terrible happening to his wife and child felt like his world was crashing down on him.

"Mrs. Folio is in surgery because the baby is breached. If you don't know what that means," "We know what it means," Matt interrupted, scowling at the nurse. She scowled right back. "Will they be alright?"

Folio was motionless, standing next to Nicholas. He felt sick, unable to move. He looked at the nurse as two small tears slid down his cheeks.

"I can't say. I don't have enough information. You all can wait here until a surgical nurse comes out and gives you better information. Should be within the hour."

With that, she turned and walked out another door, opposite the one they came in.

Folio paced. He sat, he paced, he ran his hands consistently through his hair, bit his nails, and then sat some more. He fought the tears, but lost the battle, allowing them to fall as he thought about the idea of losing Y/N. A world without her was one he didn't want to think about. Then he thought about his child, the little life he had yet to meet. He didn't even know the sex yet because he and Y/N chose to find out at birth. The tears fell harder as Nick sat back down, covering his face in his hands. After what felt like hours, a nurse came into the waiting room. She wasn't smiling, but not a lot of the nurses in the hospital did, as Nick picked up on.

"Mr. Folio, I need you to come with me, please," she ordered. All of them started to follow her, but she stopped them. "Only you."

Folio looked from her to the guys, then back to the nurse.

"Okay," he agreed, weakly.

He knew what was coming. He could feel it as he walked the hall, following the nurse closely. His wife was dead, and possibly their child, too. It was obvious from the way the nurse looked at him and spoke. The thought made Folio cry harder, no longer caring who saw.

Weeping silently, they rounded a corner, stopping at a room with a closed door. Gently knocking, the nurse opened the door and they entered into a dimly lit room. It took a moment for Nick's eyes to adjust, but when they did the first thing he saw was Y/N. She was alive and well, resting comfortably in a bed with their baby in her arms. Folio gasped, the very intake of breath hitching in the back of his throat.

"Did you think something bad had happened?" the nurse whispered. Nick huffed a light laugh, pushing his hair back. "Yeah, kind of."

The nurse placed her hand on Folio's back and patted it gently.

"They're both perfectly fine. Your wife went through it, but she's a fighter. You better worship the ground she walks on from now on."

Folio grinned.

"I already do, ma'am." "Good. Then go be with your girls. They need you."

Folio froze, eyes widening.

"Girls?"

The nurse smiled big.

"You didn't know you were having a daughter?" "No. We decided to wait." "Well, now the wait is over."

Folio smiled, focusing his attention back to his girls as the nurse left the room. The sound of the door closing caught Y/N's attention. She looked up and smiled the moment her eyes landed on her husband.

"Nick! Come here! Come meet our daughter!" she said quietly as to not wake the sleeping child.

Nick's chest no longer ached. He was able to take a deep breath as he urgently made his way over to the bed, never taking his eyes off his wife. Even though she looked exhausted, Y/N was still the most beautiful thing ever to him. She was alive. She was healthy. She was his.

"Are you okay? You look worried."

Y/N took his hand and brought it to her face, kissing his palm sweetly.

"Yeah," Folio smiled even though his eyes welled up with tears. "I'm fine. Just really happy you're okay. Both of you."

He wasn't about to indulge his wife with his fears and worries of the past hour. He'd save that for another day. He shifted his gaze from Y/N to the sleeping bundle in her arms; his daughter.

"Do you want to hold her?"

Nick's eyes swiftly looked at Y/N's.

"But she's asleep." "That's okay. She won't mind. I'm sure she wants to finally meet her daddy," Y/N said sweetly to him.

At first, he was terrified, but after leaning over and taking the tiny baby into his arms, Folio had never felt more happy and complete as he did right then. She fit perfectly in the cook of his arm, all bundled up in her tiny pink blanket. Her little button nose and small thin lips were like those of a baby doll, and for a brief moment, Folio thought he might accidently break her. And that's when he broke. Tears ran down his face as he cried, gazing upon the face of his little girl, and he sniffed and sniffed as the tears fell onto her blanket.

"Babe, what's wrong?" Y/N asked gently.

At first, Folio just shook his head, unable to speak.

"Hey, come here, come sit with me," she patted the spot on the bed in front of her.

"Talk to me, Nick. Tell me what you're thinking."

"I thought I lost you," he said, his voice breaking. "I didn't know what happened to you when they took you back through those double doors."

Y/N's shoulders fell.

"Babe, oh no, I'm so sorry," she apologized, laying her forehead on her husband's shoulder and placing her hand on his thigh.

"I waited for over an hour and no one could or wouldn't tell me anything. I didn't know what to think. When they told me that the baby was breached, it almost killed me. I knew back at the house that something didn't feel right when I laid my hands on your belly, but I wasn't prepared for everything that happened. I just..."

Folio hung his head, weeping quietly. His shoulders shook as he hugged his daughter to his chest, silently thanking God that she was okay.

"Nick, baby, I'm so sorry you went through all of that," Y/N apologized, choking up on her words. "Everything on our end went okay; just really fast. They told me she was breached and that made everything make sense. I wasn't really scared about the surgery, but just freaked out because you weren't with me. They told me you couldn't be because it was an emergency procedure. But I didn't feel anything and it was all over quicker than I realized."

Folio nodded, wiping his nose on the should of his shirt before placing a kiss on his daughter's head.

"Where do I lay her?" "Right here," Y/N told him, pointing to the rolling bassinet next to her.

Nick laid the baby down, caressing her little cheek before leaving her to find his wife. He stood over her, admiring the face he loved so much, thankful that they were finally together again. Y/N carefully scooted over some and Nick climbed in, throwing his arm around her shoulder where she settled in comfortably. Having him close to her again made Y/N feel complete.

"I love you, Nick. "I love you, too Sweetheart, and our little angel." "I realize she needs a name, right?"

Nick could hear the smile in her voice.

"Any ideas?" "No. You?" "Not yet. Let's get to know her a little first." "She needs one before we leave the hospital."

Folio smiled, kissing his wife's forehead.

"She'll have one."

Y/N grinned, burying herself deeper into Folio's side where she fell asleep almost instantly.

[kel-lance]

Movie night - Fem!reader x Itadori, Megumi, Toge, Yuta part 1

Warnings: MDNI, Group sex, camera use, teasing, humiliation, mmfmm, everyone’s bi/pan, overstimulation, worship, etc(?)

Premise: You hosted a game and movie night, bc it was Nobi & Maki’s anniversary and they were going out for the weekend. Okay so sodas, pizzas, snacks, really really bad movies…. sad movies, and finally scary movies. Perfect to watch with whoever could make it to your last minute plans. Turned out to be Yuuji, Megumi, Toge, and Yuta… oh great…

The boys planned to see who you’d hold onto during that but it seemed all of them were clinging onto you as you kept making jokes during it. They turn it off and start to play truth or dare. Their mundane yet funny dares and embarrassing truths at first but when it came to Megumi’s turn he asked you

“How did you like Yuuji’s fingers during the movie?”

“Wait, what.” You stop breathing, as the focus is so clearly, strictly on you now.

“It was obvious,” Yuta admitted. “You know you can’t hide your voice when people are around.” You’re starting to get red. Do they all know? Did they hear what we were hoping the movie would cover up?

You try to keep your composure. Damn, is Megumi blackmailing me? This is past the truth coming out… What was he planning?

You knew tonight was a mistake. You just loved the thought of having all four of them enjoying themselves with you, as they already do by themselves, but you were so greedy and wanted to test the waters.

Ever since you first dated Toge in your junior high years, you still couldn’t let him go in the end. So you’d see each other on the side with false promises and quick, selfish, hook ups.

Later on his best friend came along in high school and toge wanted to give the two people he loved a chance. In short, it ended terribly, but you were still friendly since Yuta wouldn’t fight back.

Megumi has had the biggest, longest, and aching crush on you and you knew that, but you grew up together; Even earlier than when you first met toge so of course it felt weird for you to even tease megumi with the crush he had on you. But when he started growing up and it seemed like he grew out of it.

You treated him even closer because you didn’t want to hurt him before, if he had feelings. But really he’s always watching you, he has been waiting to let him love you.

He’s pined for you so hard until Itadori came along. It was so easy for him to land a date and night out with you, and honestly you think itadori’s a great match, but you felt you’ve dealt with the friend group a little too much, finally you decided to go live with the girls to get away from the drama that you started.

Though your one on ones with them sometime end up with you out of breath and your “friend” biting your shoulder, holding their feelings back while giving you everything. You always end it kissing them, saying they did a great job champ, and they always ask you why can’t you be together. You don’t answer him, just hold him tighter and be what he needs for the night.

But now you have all four of them in front of you, with metaphorically ripping off the bandaid, leaving you exposed.

“Uh-Um.” You look down past your knees in your ball form on the middle of the couch.

“This is the first time you don’t have a comeback.” Megumi teased cooly. You’ve never seen him like this, he’s never had control over you like this before. Your face is radiating heat and you sink into the couch.

You look around and see how the other boys were also staring at you. They had a look of yearning, wanted to know about how you felt, if you were willing to admit you were doing dirty things under the blanket with Yuuji at one point.

You were teasing everyone, sitting on Yuuji’s lap, feeding Megumi some pizza, holding onto Toge during the movies and celebrating with Yuta by handshakes, high fives, hugs, spins, etc. It was all just good fun when you knew you had the advantage over them, but that was when everything was a secret. You thought the group might split if you outright said you wanted them all.

“(Y/n)?” Yuta’s soft voice broke you out of your shameful thoughts and you looked into his eyes, pleading for them to change to subject. He smiled at you instead. “Aren’t you going to answer the question?” His smile was innocent as always, but this display of manipulation sent a shiver down your spine. He was always a dangerous one when it came to you, knowing exactly how to reel you in and how to read you, but because of the conflict with Rika, you just decided to leave because he wouldn’t choose.

You glare over at Yuta, who’s sitting across and to the right of you. “They’ve got to know, they’ve gotta been talking, they all know I’ve been seeing them all.” You start to freak out because you don’t want them to corner you, to make you choose, to make the fun stop. But you were also always the type to fight something head-on, so after the initial embarrassment swept away, you look over at Yuuji who’s also blushing hard.

“Fine,” Megumi sighs. “If we go past our 5 second rule then we have to take a shot/hit right? What about I just ask someone else instead?” You feel relief for a second until you realize what Megumi’s planning.

“Itadori,” You hold your breath as Megumi faces forward toward his best friend. “Truth or dare.” Itadori takes a glance at you in which you look away blushing hard, not knowing if Itadori would expose you both.

“Dare.” Nice one Itadori!

You smile at Itadori but Megumi keeps his smile. “I dare you to come over here, and let me taste her.”

You gave a puzzling look over at Toge, Yuta and Yuuji, wondering what he meant by that. No one moves because we’re confused but Megumi told itIdori to come over where he was sitting on the couch. On his knees, Yuuji shuffles over to Megs, “Taste…?” Yuuji looked down at his hand that was playing with you while your friends were watching the movie. He raised his arm and spread his thumb over megumi’s lips, tickling him to stir out his tongue and start to suck on his best friends fingers. Witnessing this a warm adrenaline started stewing inside your stomach while your heart’s jumped to your throat.

“He’s actually tasting me.” Megumi’s sucking on the fingers that explored your other hot wet mouth it was actually starting to drive him weak. Yuuji’s cock twitched to the feeling of everyone watching, Yuta’s intently enjoying the show and looks over to Toge, signaling something to him.

Before you can turn around to see his reaction, Toge’s mouth connected with yours as you’re now laying on your back. You kiss him back before remembering your other lovers are watching you. You’re trying to stifle your moans as his mouth travels to relentlessly lick at your earlobe; You try to push him off but past toge is Yuta, who’s sitting closer now, just watching so intently.

You can hear moaning right on top of your head. You wish you could see what megumi and Yuuji were doing but this situation, having an audience was a lot for you already. Toge’s hands started to travel and squeeze at your body, making the sensations wave over you entirely. He never had to say anything to get you weak, which was your forte, but it was more exciting not knowing what his next moves were. You loved to hear his sweet noises and trained him to keep quiet during but now it’s like he’s showing off. Showing the others where he’s found out you like to be touched. Knowing wherever to pinch, bite, lick, suck, he was just perfect when it came to being secret lovers instead.

“(Y/n), do you know who taught toge all that?” Yuta leans in now as toge’s moved onto your chest, you’re wondering if he’d actually push it further, if this right now was going further. Yuta’s dark blue eyes not breaking contact as he closed the gap, “After you left us, we had a common ache. We knew something others didn’t, saw something others haven’t of you. We texted essays to each other about you, and when it got unbearable…” Toge’s lips finally unlatched from your sweet spot to catch his breath, for Yuta to grab his head and kiss the cursed speech user.

From this blur in time, you can look up and see that Itadori’s straddling Megumi. They’re still making out, but Yuuji’s knee starts to pull on your hair making you yell. Yuuji gets up and apologizes before megumi sits you up and straddles you this time. Yuuji’s stripped off his shirt while Megumi goes in to kiss you. At this point, you can’t help but accept it, as you’ve been wanting this for a while now.

You’re surprised, the calm, cool, collected, and usually pessimistic Megumi you knew is a mess in front of you. His kisses are sweet and small, he’s still being a gentleman in a time like this. You smile during the kiss and slowed yourself down, asking him silently to match your pace. He starts to breathed deeply, his lips hovering above yours, waiting for you to show him just how you like it. A slight lick of his lips drove him crazy, but the devilish glint in your eyes kept him obedient. You give it up at this point, feeling Yuuji’s hands paralleling Megumi’s on your face and waist as he presses himself behind Megumi, pushing him further into you.

“It’s my turn still, right?” Yuuji asked into Megumi’s ear. “Yuta, Toge, truth or dare.”

“Truth.” “Shake”

“That was so quick.” You almost laugh.

“We’re not taking the chance of leaving.” Yuta kept his smile but darkened his look.

“Don’t worry, we agreed didn’t we?” For second you thought you caught a glimpse of sukuna, or at least heard his sterner voice before it went back to Yuuji’s usually expressive self. “Do you two want to go first, or can Megumi?”

You thought it was so hot how they were talking about you like an object they were sharing. You’ve had so much time training these sub boys who knew they also had that scary love personality you also have, they would be the only ones you kept around. You thought for sure Yuta would devour you at any second, but he offered Megumi first. “It’ll be his first time, no pressure.”

Hearing that, Yuuji picked megumi and you up each in one arm saying “This is going to be so fuckin hot.” Then leading the other two toward your bedroom.

“His first time?!” You look over at Megumi who was red, “I’ve only done stuff with Yuuji, but-“ Yuuji lays you both on your full size bed, helping you both to strip since you both still felt a bit awkward. Yuta and toge enter the room, locking the door and sit over at the end of the bed, also slowly stripping themselves but never taking their eyes off of you.

Toge looked longingly, seeing you fully for the first time at 16 was already insane to him, cherishing the memory when you two were first together, before anyone else had you, when you were exactly and truly his and his alone, yet you were just two stupid kids at the time too.

The break up was mutual, though you both slightly regretted it bc you still felt something towards each other, but just kept fucking every chance you were single again.

Toge’s breathes deepened as he saw the change of how sexy you’ve become. Your chest, thighs, ass, belly, everything was developed in a way only he could compare.

Yuta was enjoying the sight himself. He knew what you could take, so seeing you so shy with your inexperienced yet pining friend, it made something in him enflamed.

“Megumi, try to take your time bc I’m gonna show you how it’s done next.” The special grade snaked his way behind you as you sat in front of Meg’s.

“Shut the hell up, you don’t know how long I’ve been wanting this.” He growls and pushed Yuta off, bringing you on top of him in the process. “(Y/n), I’m sorry, I’ve had enough.” He starts squeezing your waist, slightly making you squeal with each pinch. “I’ve heard so much about how you like it.” He nuzzled himself into your neck. “But you’re mine.”

“For as long as you can last.” Yuuji corrected. He didn’t know what he felt with both pieces of his heart, just about to tear into his soul, into each other, he felt so weird knowing you two had history before him. “I mean we’re trying to play Russian roulette who’s the father kind of game too right?” You look over at Yuta who looks away devilishly. He’s literally insane. But you knew Toge also wanted to make you his like this. The situation might be a bit more to deal with relationship wise, but you’ll talk to them later. Fuck it.

“Just take off your shirt.”

[techramonic]

The Pinnacle of Self-Hatred: A Close-Reading on Elliot Rodger's Manifesto

“I named it the Day of Retribution. It would be a day in which I exact my ultimate retribution and revenge on all of the hedonistic scum who enjoyed lives of pleasure that they don’t deserve. If I can’t have it, I will destroy it. I will destroy all women because I can never have them. I will make them all suffer for rejecting me… And I will slaughter them like the animals they are.” (Rodger, 2014, p. 101)

On the Friday evening of May. 23, 2014, Elliot Rodger had perpetrated the Isla Vista Killings. A series of stabbings and shootings that claimed the lives of six people, injured fourteen, and concluded with his own death from a fatal self-inflicted gunshot wound on the head. Before this, Elliot was like any other normal teenager growing up.

As he mentioned in his own manifesto, he had a seemingly good childhood up until his parent’s divorce. Even until the separation, he still spent time with both sides of his family, maintaining the privilege to have access to many luxurious items such as a collection of designer clothes and even a BMW 328i. He traveled a lot, and at just the age of one, he had already traveled to France, Sussex, Malaysia (where his mother grew up), Spain, Greece, and California.

People on platforms such as Reddit often questioned why no one considered dating him at all. Elliot had also asked himself this question time and time again. In one of his youtube videos, entitled, “Why do girls hate me so much” he says:

“I’ve been attending college in Santa Barbara for two and a half years now, in those two and a half years I have experienced nothing but loneliness and misery, and my problem  is girls. There are so many beautiful girls here, but none of them give me a chance and I don’t know why. I don’t know why you girls are so repulsed by me.”

While it is easy to dismiss that Elliot solely acted upon his crime because he thought that girls were the problem, upon the surface where misogyny lies, there are layers upon layers of complexities that shaped his views. Elliot did not simply hate women and men who got with women he dreamed of, it was that ultimately, he hated himself—a hatred that manifested toward outward factors.

Elliot has exhibited a long string of stunted self-worth ever since he was a child, and while it is easy to throw around names like: monster and pure-evil; the fact remains: he is still considered a human amongst all those. One who is consumed by insecurity.

In understanding a crime, we must first examine the criminal and approach their case with empathy. Understanding the human aspect of these criminals does not however mean that one should excuse, dismiss, or condone their actions. Only understand the reasons behind their motivations. Here are some aspects I have noticed in his personality and life that may be able to better explain why.

MATERIALISM AND INSECURITY

In his manifesto entitled: “My Twisted World”, Elliot had confessed to having lived a good childhood. He was a nice kid who lived a nice life, up until his parent’s rocky divorce. While reading his manifesto, I have garnered his tendency to place his worth on materialistic things, moreso, his wealth. There were two instances of this on pages thirty to thirty-one of his manifesto. The first was when he was hesitant to invite his new friend from school over to his house because he was ashamed of his wealth:

“I was a bit hesitant to invite anyone from Pinecrest to my mother’s house, because it was located in Canoga Park, a bad area, and most of the kids at Pinecrest were upper-middle class who would look down on me for living there.”

On page thirty one of his manifesto, Elliot said that he was eager to receive an Xbox solely because many kids from his school wanted it:

“My mother bought me a brand new video game console, the Xbox. I heard a lot of kids talking about how great the Xbox was at school, so I was really eager to have one.”

This trait had continued on to his older years. In the same video where he questioned why girls disliked him so much, he stated:

“I do everything I can to appear attractive to you. I dress nice. I am sophisticated and magnificent. I have a nice car, a BMW.”

From this, it’s observable that Elliot tends to desire things just because other kids desire it too. This is rooted in his craving of validation and acceptance. This materialistic need for validation also transcended from mere objects to even his own appearance. Whenever he did not have what others had or wanted, he would be very ashamed of himself.

At the age of six, Elliot had moved to Topanga Elementary Charter School, a school based in California. The school has a thirty two per-cent minority rate, making seventy eight per-cent of the ethnicity population white. With the population being predominantly white, Elliot  had developed a view on the world that separates people by their differences: the “cool kids” and the “losers”. Mostly, Elliot described these cool kids as the higher-class, privileged, centered on attention, and white. 

“I realized, with some horror, that I wasn’t “cool” at all. I had a dorky hairstyle, I wore plain and uncool clothing, and I was shy and unpopular. I was always described as the shy boy in the past, but I never really thought my shyness would affect me in a negative way, until this point. This revelation about the world, and about myself, really decreased my self-esteem. On top of this was the feeling that I was different because I am of mixed race. I am half White, half Asian, and this made me different from the normal fully-white kids that I was trying to fit in with.”

He even dyed his hair blonde and tried to pick up on skateboarding because he thought it would make him appear more cool. On his manifesto he wrote:

“My first act was to ask my parents to allow me to bleach my hair blonde. I always envied and admired blonde-haired people, they always seemed so much more beautiful.” (Rodger, 2014, p. 17)

“I then started to notice that all of the cool kids were interested in skateboarding. I had never even ridden on a skateboard before, but if I wanted to be cool, I had to become a skateboarder.” (Rodger, 2014, p. 18)

This materialism had soon influenced his fixation on racial hierarchy. Elliot in his older years constantly demeaned and berated others of asian descent even if he was half-malaysian himself. To him, he considered whiteness as a prestige. On platforms such as reddit and facebook, he had made several negative comments regarding the appearance of some Asian men. 

A comment he had left on a reddit thread stated:

“Full Asian men are disgustingly ugly and white girls would never go for you. You’re just butthurt that you were born an asian piece of shit, so you lash out by linking these fake pictures. You even admit that you wish you were half white. You’ll never be half-white and you’ll never fulfill your dream of marrying a white woman. I suggest you jump off a bridge.” 

The paragraph entails Elliot calling out a man for linking fake pictures of himself. Elliot speculates that the man had done this because he wished he was white, then he tells him how he was not considered as attractive because he was simply born Asian. Elliot was also very fixated on his looks, specifically his height. He had repeatedly mentioned his envy of other boys and even girls who were taller than him.

On page fifteen of his manifesto, he wrote:

“As Fourth Grade started, it fully dawned on me that I was the shortest kid in my class – even the girls were taller than me. In the past, I rarely gave a thought to it, but at this stage I became extremely annoyed at how everyone was taller than me, and how the tallest boys were automatically respected more. It instilled the first feelings of inferiority in me, and such feelings would only grow more volatile with time.”

In other instances, he also noted that he was bullied for being physically weak and short, and often he would blame this solely on his descent. He saw being mixed as a form of inferiority because this made him “undesirable”.  His image of attractiveness is measured by euro-centric features: fair-skinned, blonde, blue eyes, and tall. In many instances, he changed parts of himself to better fit the narrative of being “cool”.

To him, it’s all a part of growing up and fitting in, but what he failed to see is that the more he takes and changes parts of himself for people to like him, the more it just makes him hollow. Elliot’s childhood and teen years, best summed up, is a fixation on trying to keep up with those who are higher on the social status ladder and this continued to his later years. 

EARLY EXPOSURE TO PORNOGRAPHY AND SEXIST MEDIA 

Elliot was lonelier during his teen years, at 13 years old, he stopped having contact with his only friends because they started having their own separate lives together, making him spend more time alone by himself (Rodger, 2014, p. 38). This was when Elliot recounted his first-time exposure to pornography by catching a teenager watch it in an arcade called Planet Cyber.  He re-called it as a traumatizing experience, confused on why such an explicit thing would be considered as “love”. Despite this, his innocence was damaged by this accidental exposure. Though he did feel aroused, he was more guilty and confused.

“One time while I was alone at Planet Cyber, I saw an older teenager watching pornography. I saw in detail a video of a man having sex with a hot girl …  I didn’t know anything about sex at the time. I barely even knew what sex was. I was slowly starting to develop sexual feelings for hot girls, but I didn’t know what to do with them. To see this video really traumatized me. I had no idea what I was seeing… I couldn’t imagine human beings doing such things with each other. The sight was shocking, traumatizing, and arousing. All of these feelings mixed together took a great toll on me. I walked home and cried by myself  for a bit.” (Rodger, 2014, p. 38-39)

This was the pinnacle of Elliot’s misery. A kid who searched for validation with his looks, now searched for it in sexual gratification as well. He only found himself loved if people flocked over to him. Furthermore, he had this distorted mindset that his worth is only measured by how many girls he could get and how fast he'd lose his virginity. This can be akin to the stereotypical portrayals of boys in media that often influenced teens and their concept of self-worth: the "cool" guys having lots of girls, while nerds and "losers" have none.

With this type of thinking, he tried his best to gain things that he thought women would like, yet he did little to no effort to actually get to know them and socialize. He believed that just because he had what others wanted or did not, people would love him. According to his friends, they thought he was almost always one-sided, expecting women to just swoon over him because he has things that are desirable.

ENTITLEMENT

Furthermore, despite his initial pleasant middle school years at Pinecrest High, such as dancing with a girl during a school dance (Rodger, 2014, p. 29), socializing eventually became difficult for Elliot. Often, this is because of  his appearance, where he experienced bullying because of his height. According to his friends, he barely talked to women but still complained no woman wanted to talk to him. 

Elliot was easily persuaded and subjected to peer-pressure because he had no clear identity. He always followed what was the trend because it made him feel less insecure about himself, since it was what he thought the people accepted and desired.

Despite his insecurities, Elliot had a fine record for being privileged, which he used to his advantage to "fix" certain qualities in himself that he deemed undesirable. Ever since he was younger, he often used his wealth to modify certain aspects of himself, even the smallest things: dyeing his hair blonde, purchasing designer clothes to appear more attractive and rich, purchasing mass amounts of body-building pills, and only picking up hobbies such as skateboarding and basketball solely because he found them useful in climbing up the social ladder.

Elliot also had a strong dislike for people who did not support his motivations. He expressed a strong resentment toward is step-mother, Soumaya, because of her assertive nature. He considered his dad to be “weak” for following her orders around, when in truth, she was only trying to teach Elliot a lesson about independence. 

“Not only did she kick me out of father’s house, but she forbade me to go there even for a short visit. And still, father didn’t do anything about it. Father kept saying that the house is her house as much as his, and that she has the right to kick me out. No! I am the eldest son! The house should be MY house before hers! This caused any respect I still had for my father to fade away completely. It was such a betrayal, to put his second wife before his eldest son. What kind of father would do that? The bitch must be really good to him in bed, I figured. What a weak man.” (Rodger, 2014, p. 62)

At his step-mother’s insistence, Elliot began looking for a job and eventually found work from a family friend who offered him a job for a house construction project. He felt more comfortable with it, seeing the job as helping rather than typical employment. After getting his driver’s license, Elliot enrolled in summer classes at Moorpark College but struggled with attendance, again, due to his jealousy of campus couples.

He dropped out midway through, briefly worked as a janitor at an airport office, and quit after one day. Knowing his mother would be upset, he re-enrolled at Moorpark but eventually dropped out again (Rodger, 2014, p. 70). Upon learning of Elliot’s decision to drop out again, his parents decided he would move to Santa Barbara, where he would live alone in an apartment paid for by his mother, receive a $500 monthly allowance from his father, and enroll in classes at Santa Barbara Community College (Rodger, 2014, p. 77). 

CONCLUSION

Elliot is very persistent on the idea that to be accepted, he needed to be loved, when in truth, he couldn't bear to accept himself. No one has absolutely any obligation to love someone because the other sees it as a form of validation. Self-worth comes from yourself, not from others. Due to Elliot’s constant fixation on trying to be accepted, he lost the identity that made him authentic and genuine. He lost what other people could not give him: self-worth.

Concluding, Elliot Rodger is a complex individual that cannot be summed up to one set character. He is not solely “pure evil”, he is a person with a background that influenced his decisions. He is not less deserving of humanity or empathy because just like others, he had also felt humane emotions. With criminals, it is always important to remember that to understand a certain event or phenomena of crime, we also have to understand not just the perpetrator that the media portrays, which is often easily pushed into a oversimplified narrative of “pure evil”; we must also consider the genuine person behind the crime. 

While it is important to recognize that these are profoundly disturbed individuals who must be held accountable for their actions, it is also crucial to understand that despite their crimes, they still remain human. Although, this does not mean that his background excuses or condones his actions. It only provides a framework to comprehensively understand both the case and the criminal behind it. 

[drvirgus]

Mute!

Non-Idol! Hanni X Mute! Reader

Description: Life as a mute girl in university: How does Y/n navigate her life, especially when she has to work on a project with her crush, one of the popular kids on campus? Can Y/n find a way to express her feelings?

Warnings: Trauma; strong language; kys/kms jokes; insults; bad family 😔 (kind of abuse?)

Chapter: Helpless (2)

Masterlist

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Y/n didn’t cry. Her eyes were simply fixed on her grandma lying in the coffin. Y/n looked at each guest, especially her family. Every single one of them was crying and sobbing. Her brother had his arm over his eyes while his girlfriend, offering him emotional support, gently stroked his back.

Her sister, also several years older, cried into their father’s shoulder, who was trying hard not to show weakness. However, his eyes were red and a few silent tears rolled down his cheeks. Her mother, of course, cried the loudest. A tissue in her hand as she hugged herself and continuously rubbed her own arms.

Every single one of them cried.

And yet they didn’t even come to their grandma’s birthday!

Y/n stood in the middle of her family but never felt this alone. No one cared about her...

The funeral was over, and everyone was slowly heading home. As always, Y/n took off her shoes and neatly placed them to the side. After all, her mother always scolded her if Y/n was even a bit messy.

"I need a drink," she heard the older man she called father say. With a tense jaw, he went into the kitchen and sat at the head of the dining table without moving a muscle. A certain pressure filled the room. First, the oldest sat at the table, followed by the sister.

They all stared at Y/n expectantly. "How can you be so cold? Your fucking grandma just died," her older sister’s shrill voice accused. She glared hatefully at the eight-year-old girl before snorting and looking away.

A pressure built in the youngest's chest.

Slowly and deliberately, Y/n sat down at the table as well. The mother of the family handed everyone a glass and placed two bottles of wine on the table. The man of the house, however, went for his beloved whiskey, which he wasn’t supposed to drink because he wouldn't stay sober otherwise. He had managed to stay sober for three years...

"Daddy," the youngest said softly. Of course, she was too young to fully understand why he shouldn’t drink it. But she knew he wasn’t supposed to, and that was enough for her.

James, the oldest sibling, raised his glass and took a sip. "So what do we do now? Who gets her inheritance?" he asked. Erika, the eldest daughter, looked at her brother and snorted again. "Is that the first thing you think of? You’re a fucking asshole, James," she spat at the older sibling.

A loud bang on the table interrupted the tension between the two siblings. Silently, they looked at Do-Yun, the man of the house. Angry and with narrowed eyes, he first looked at James and then at Erika. His eyes softened a bit when he looked at his youngest.

"Why... didn’t any of you go to her birthday?"

"I want her gold," Erika said.

Emptiness and ignorance.

That was the only thing the youngest got from her family. She was always ignored, never allowed to finish speaking, or no one ever tried to listen to her.

 You’re too young to join the conversation.

The pressure intensified. Y/n felt as if the wall that was already between her and her family only grew bigger and more solid.

"Erika will get the gold, the furniture, and everything that belongs to the house. James will inherit the property," she heard Do-Yun say while her mother, Hee-Jin, sat next to him, continuously pouring him drinks and nodding occasionally.

"I want to be with Granny," the youngest said.

"Fine by me. Does that mean I can do whatever I want? Even tear down the house?" James asked as he sipped his own glass of whiskey.

The only thing Y/n noticed was the pitying look from her future sister-in-law before she stood up and started to leave for her room.

"Where are you going?" Do-Yun asked sternly. His jaw clenched as he looked at his youngest daughter. Surprised that someone had noticed her presence, she looked at her father. A hopeful glimmer in her eyes. "I was just going to-"

"Sit down."

But that glimmer died too.

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The second time Y/n felt helpless happened in her own room...

Months had passed since the death of her beloved grandma, the only person who made Y/n feel like a human being, was gone. Just like that, without explanation...

Now nine years old, she grew quieter by the day. She saw no point in speaking unless spoken to. Mostly, though, she simply didn't feel safe anymore. Sure, she wasn’t abused. No one in her family hit her...

Back then, at least, she didn’t know there were other forms of abuse.

The nine-year-old sat on the floor. Weeks had gone by since she last spoke without even realizing it. "Y/n," she heard her mother and immediately looked up from her laptop. Hee-Jin smiled slightly. "What do you want to eat today?" her mother asked. Her voice was gentle, her eyebrows raised questioningly.

A simple question.

That should be easy to answer, right?

A smile formed on the youngest's face as she opened her mouth to reply.

But no sound came out.

Confusion. 

This was the first thing the young girl felt. She licked her lips once and opened her mouth again to answer her mother. After all, it was a simple question.

Desperation.

The tablet that had been on her lap slid to the floor as Y/n got on her knees. Her eyes wide open as she clung to her mother's pants leg. Her mouth opened as she tried to make any sound. She could speak! She could! She had been speaking for years... Why... Why wasn’t it working now?

"I asked what you want to eat. Is that so hard?" Hee-Jin's eyes narrowed in annoyance. "And stop pulling so hard," she added, freeing her pants leg from her daughter’s grip. "Fine, then! Just don’t complain if I cook something you don’t like," the older woman snapped as she left the youngest's room.

Helplessness...

No one ever helped her or cared for her...

She was young, desperate, and... alone.

Granny. Granny. Granny. Granny.... Save me.

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Y/n could never cry. At least not for real-life events.

Just like now.

No matter how helpless she felt, she didn’t cry.

Her phone was off, its battery dead during the dare the college had organized on this trip.

Her back leaned against one of the thick trees as she pulled her legs to her chest. Her arms wrapped around her legs. Her eyes focused on one of the branches lying on the cold forest floor.

The rain had long soaked through her clothes. Cold, wet, and alone... like so often.

The moon shone bright, but the thick leaves on the trees let no light through. The youngest Kim alone in the forest.

Where was her partner?

He, whose name Y/n didn't even know, had lured her here, pushed her to the ground, and then immediately ran off. He left Y/n in the forest. Alone, wet, and with a dead battery. She couldn’t even call for help...

Her sense of direction was too poor to even try to find her way back. Afraid of getting even more lost in the forest...

The only thing she could do was sit here.

Alone...

And yet she didn’t cry.

Y/n was helpless...

For the third time in her life, she felt utterly helpless.

Please... save me, Hanni...

Unaware that Hanni, Yuna, Minji, Danielle, Felix, Haerin, and even Yeji were searching for her. In the pouring rain.

"So? Has anyone found any trace?" Haerin asked, holding an umbrella, slightly out of breath from all the running. Yuna, Felix, Minji, and Danielle gathered around her. None of them felt as helpless as Y/n. But each of them was scared. Scared of losing Y/n. Afraid something had happened to her.

"I’ll check the A spot," Yuna said anxiously. Her eyes wider than usual, and without another word, she ran off. She didn’t even grab an umbrella. She just ran through the rain.

No matter how scared each of them was, one particular college student was desperate and panicked. Completely drenched, she ran through the forest. Her mouth open to catch her breath now and then. Her hands clenched into fists. "Please. Please. Please," she prayed softly to a god she never believed in.

Pham Hanni didn’t believe in a god. But in this situation, she would pray to anything and anyone. She just wanted her girl back. Safe and sound.

"Y/n!"

Hanni’s eyes widened as she saw Yeji jogging over to a crouching Y/n. Yeji had an umbrella in hand and immediately held it over Y/n. Hanni stood still, rain mercilessly pounding on her head as she watched the scene from a distance. The raindrops rolled down her face as she breathed heavily.

The mute person’s hand gripped Yeji’s outstretched hand as she was pulled to her feet. "What are you doing here? Did you get lost? Where’s your partner?" Yeji asked, pulling the slightly smaller girl closer. Immediately, Yeji took off her college jacket and draped it over the mute girl’s shoulders.

With wide, somewhat surprised eyes that Yeji had found her, Y/n looked up at her ex-girlfriend. But she couldn’t answer. Not without her phone or tablet... She didn’t know sign language either.

"Whatever. We should get back. I don’t want you catching a cold," Yeji said, visibly concerned. Her eyes roamed over the younger girl’s entire body. She clicked her tongue when she saw Y/n’s knees were visibly scraped. "I’m going to kill your partner," she said threateningly.

Hanni, still standing in place, didn’t move. Her hands still clenched into fists. The thunder didn’t faze her. Her previously closed mouth now opened as she saw Yeji carrying HER girl on her back. Hanni’s thoughts raced.

I should intervene!

She belongs to me!

Get your hands off her!

I should have been the one to save her...

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Taglist: @sixflame438 @saysirhc @itzzyyyyyyydaaaa @somedaydream @wonyoungssi @gtfoiydlyj

[icarusflewsworld]

Rhysand & Cassian & Azriel X OC

Hello, here is the chapter 18 of a fanfiction on the world of Acotar where our three favorite Batboys are the mates of a single woman.

I hope you enjoyed this reading too and that you discovered the little clues I left all along concerning Luxiana's true painful past.

Thank you for your readings and thank you for all your kind and funny comments, you are really too adorable. It makes my heart BOUM BOUM. I looooooove you! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

I also hope you have a great day and I wish you good luck for all the things you will have to go through. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

The next chapter will be Friday, December 20! They are going to take Luxiana to see the Weaver but Luxiana is going to destroy everything.

! Don't forget to read the previous chapters ! : Here

Enjoy the read ! ❤️❤️❤️

Chapter 18

Luxiana's eyes widened. "Oh well you know, my childhood has nothing to do with yours." A ball of anxiety compressed her stomach. She didn't want to tell them about it. She still felt so bad, so guilty. What would they think of her? She had to lie but her anxiety grew heavier as she remembered Azriel's presence at her side. Everything would be fine if she didn't lie. She just had to omit certain details.

"Were you happy?" Rhysand asked anxiously. He gave his brothers a doubtful look, who returned it, feeling the same way. He shoved his hands in his pockets to hide his clenched fists. He was so afraid she would tell him she wasn’t.

“I was probably the happiest little girl ever.” Luxiana exclaimed with a big smile. “Really!” she breathed, trying to focus only on the happy days, and not on the heartbreaking pit of sadness, death, and guilt that haunted her every second. “My parents were so in love. I swear. They loved each other with all their hearts. They always laughed together and never fought. They looked at each other with shining eyes and were always hugging each other.”

Rhysand, Cassian, and Azriel were able to take a deep breath as they looked at her with dreamy eyes, shining with hope and relief.

“My mother was the sweetest, most loving woman I’ve ever met. She was always taking care of my father and me,” she laughed softly as she remembered. “She was the one who fixed the furniture in the house, who did odd jobs, who went to chop firewood or who went hunting. She would insist on my father for her doing things that men usually had to do and she always won against him. She was really strong. So my days were spent either with my mother teaching me how to hunt, making me carry big logs and teaching me how to survive in the forest, or with my father cleaning, cooking, or any number of other things. And I loved every moment I had with them.”

Azriel's eyes were shining. She looked so happy as she talked about all this. "Was your father a good person?"

“He was the best. He treated me like a princess, really. He indulged my every whim. Sometimes I wanted to eat in the middle of the night so he would cook me a huge meal. When I was afraid of the dark or that there was a creature under my bed, he would sit against my closet with a knife in his hand and he would stay up all night so I could sleep peacefully. Every night, before I fell asleep, he would read me stories about the wonders of the world. He even built a small fireplace to put in my room and he would get up every two hours to feed it with wood. And he would always iron my sheets before I crawled into bed or he would wrap me under a mound of blankets,” Luxiana’s heart broke as it rose up into her throat but she didn’t let it show. She even put her trembling hands under her thighs to hide them.

The three Illyrians looked at her with big smiles as a weight they hadn't even realized they had lightened their hearts as it evaporated. She had had a happy childhood. "Were you still living with them before you came here?" Cassian asked.

"No... uh" Luxiana lowered her head for a moment, searching for words. "We lived in a remote corner of the forest, far from any form of life or civilization and my parents were so afraid that I would be hurt or meet a bad person who wanted to hurt me that they always prevented me from going with them to town or even seeing other people."

Cassian straightened. Rhysand frowned. Azriel lost his smile as he tensed. They didn’t like this. It wasn’t good to keep a child away from everything. It was like keeping her in prison.

“For years, I had never seen anyone but my parents. But my father often told me about the wonders of the outside world and that… that awakened in me a crazy desire to leave and go discover the world. And that's what I did.”

“You left?” Azriel asked for clarification, his breath hitching.

Luxiana nodded slowly with an expressionless face. “I was nine years old.”

“Nine years old??” they all exclaimed with wide eyes.

“Yeah, I was already completely crazy back then, I think. Only I would want to leave such a harmonious and happy home. I left a little note for my parents saying, ‘Hey, I’m leaving, kisses,’” she laughed falsely, hoping it would ease her heart. “I had never set foot in a city or met people before that.”

Rhysand saw the sadness she was trying to hide in her blank expression and it made him sad in turn. "Do you regret it?"

She nodded. "Yes, I miss them. But I'm sure that one day I'll see them again." She shook her head to regain that expression of confidence that protected her when she wasn't okay. "And the worst part of all this is that I stopped at the first town I visited to stay because I met Feyre there. She seemed so in need of help that I taught her everything I knew about the forest, about how to hunt or skin an animal. Everything my mother had taught me, I passed on to her. Then I understood that to survive and especially to travel, you needed money, so I tried to find a job while waiting to have the means to leave and while waiting to finish learning everything I had to teach to Feyre. But I was just a little girl in an adult world."

“You must have been terrified,” Mor observed in horror.

"Not really," Luxiana laughed. She gritted her teeth imperceptibly. She hadn't been afraid, because she had nothing left to lose. "I just went into the first bar I found and demanded the boss to take me on as an employee for any job he had to offer me. And that's where I met Keydan."

“Your boss,” Azriel said with a frown, hoping she would confirm it again.

"He became a little more than that over time. He took care of me, protected me and raised me. He taught me a lot of things that my parents could never have taught me and thanks to him, I felt at home again somewhere. Then another one came to join our gang, Josher, he's my best friend. And when I was old enough, Keydan pushed me to go see the world but I never wanted to. Well, until three years ago when I finally decided to go."

“All alone?” Mor asked in a mixture of surprise and admiration. “That must have been horrible. Terrible things could have happened to you.”

The three Illyrians glanced at the cousin. She was right and they didn't like it.

Luxiana laughed, shaking her head negatively. "I'm pretty resourceful and then I left my parents' house for that reason. I left them for that so, it had to be worth it. And then, I'm not really afraid of much, you know."

Azriel raised an eyebrow as he nodded with a bored look. "We noticed that."

"I've been all over the world, met loads of amazing people, but there was always something missing. I was always missing Feyre, Keydan, and Josher. So after seeing everything, I came back, but..."

She looked down and lost her smile. “It was too late, Feyre had been taken by Tamlin. And the rest, you know.”

The three Illyrians had healed hearts. They felt like they were floating because they were so relieved. Their soul mate had a happy life. Of course, she missed her parents but no one had ever hurt her. They sighed. Their soul mate was happy, alive and sunny, it was certain that she had never known misfortune but hearing it from her mouth reassured them so much.

That said, realizing this, a hint of anxiety rose in Rhysand. She had never known danger and he had just brought her closer to where the danger was stronger than anywhere else. He had just brought her closer to him.

Azriel slid his hand -which had been on Luxiana's neck the whole time- to pass it over the back of her skull, taking his fingers into her braid. He smiled as he saw her shiver under his touch. Then he stared at her with a determined look. The only dark spot in her story was her parents. She missed them so Azriel promised himself to find them and bring them back to her so that she would be reassured and happy.

Cassian couldn't help but take a deep breath. His soulmate had never known pain, suffering, or loneliness and he was going to do everything he could to keep it that way. He was going to protect her until his last breath.

“By the way,” Mor began, suddenly curious. “How old are you?”

"I'm twenty-three," Luxiana answered simply, still fighting against herself to not let her bad memories resurface in her mind.

“You’re twenty-three?” Mor exclaimed in shock, slamming her palms down on the table. She looked at Rhysand, “ she’s a baby !!”

“Don’t say it like that,” Rhys scolded, giving her a disapproving look. Cassian laughed, but Azriel let out a sound that looked like a growl.

Luxiana smiled but frowned for a second as she looked at them all one by one without really understanding. "Why? How old are you?"

"I'm 536 years old," Rhysand said.

Luxiana turned to face him with wide eyes. She knew they were old but not that old.

“I have 537, young lady,” Cassian added next.

“What?” she gasped in shock, turning to Cassian.

“538,” Azriel muttered under his breath.

“WHAT???” Luxiana yelled, her gaze swinging wildly between the three of them. “Guys you’re super old !!”

“We’re not old!” Cassian said, his voice almost shrill. “That’s still very young for fae.”

Luxiana burst out laughing, pointing at them. "No, no, you're grandpas."

Mor was literally dying of laughter despite the dissuasive look Rhys was giving her. Then the lord gave Luxiana a weary face. "Please don't think we're grandpas," Rhys almost begged. He certainly didn't want to lose his soulmate because she thought they were too old.

Luxiana calmed down slowly, gradually stopping laughing. "Don't worry, I'm joking. You don't have any wrinkles or white hair yet, anyway." Then she narrowed her eyes at Cassian in front of her, pretending to notice something. "Well... if that's a wrinkle I see at the corner of your eyes there."

Cassian stood up from his chair, offended to the core of his ego. "What? Not at all!"

Luxiana burst out laughing. And the others followed her.

Cassian strode toward his soulmate. He rounded the table, unable to hold back his broad smile. "I'll show you if I'm an old man." He walked behind Rhysand to approach Luxiana, who was still laughing heartily.

When she saw him coming, and although she was still laughing, she began to wave her hands in all directions to shout softly, "no, no, wait!" But Cassian did not stop. He arrived at her side and wanted to lean towards her but Luxiana fled to the only place where she could. Where Cassian could not intercept her. On Azriel's legs. She leaned on his thighs with both forearms to throw herself head first between his torso and the table. Her chest landed on the legs of the master spy who froze.

Azriel's eyes were wide. He threw his hands up in the air, unsure of what to do. His heart began to pound in all directions in his chest.

Cassian and Rhysand looked at each other in surprise and then back at their soulmate. They both froze for a second when they saw Luxiana's position forcing her to put her ass on full display, almost revealed by her dress. Rhysand's eyes widened before starting to laugh again , placing his hand on his face.

Cassian couldn't laugh because of all the dirty images that were flashing through his mind at the sight of his soulmate's position. She seemed to have a perfect shape. Cassian was already imagining the day he could grab her hips to pleasure her.

Luxiana began to crawl away, trying to escape. She managed to touch the ground with her hands to hold on and move forward, rubbing her stomach even more on Azriel's thighs.

The spymaster was dying. At least, that was the impression he gave, as he had become so white. He looked up at the ceiling, taking a deep breath to try and calm the erection that was swelling in his pants.

Cassian pulled himself together, shaking his head. There was no way he wasn't going to take advantage of his soulmate like Azriel was doing now. He wanted her on his lap too. He grabbed her ankle before she could completely escape. Luxiana screamed in surprise when Cassian tried to pull her back. But Azriel slapped his brother's hand violently, forcing him to let go.

The shadowsinger was certainly not going to let him steal her. His soulmate had chosen to throw herself at him for protection and he intended to defend her. "Hands off," he growled.

Cassian moved his hand away in mock surprise. He knew his brother would react like that because he would have reacted the same way.

Luxiana snapped her upside down head at Azriel after his words. "That was downright sexy," she breathed with eyes shining with admiration as she looked at the fae beneath her pelvis.

Azriel closed his eyes, exhaling wearily, but his heart was pounding in his chest like crazy. She had found what he had done sexy. He wanted to smile. He threw a sideways glance at his brother. "Go away!" Then he grabbed Luxiana by the hips to lift her up and sit her back down on her chair before she felt his erection against her stomach.

Cassian went back to sit down but he stared at his soulmate with narrowed eyes, falsely vexed. He pointed his index and middle fingers at his eyes then at Luxiana's. "We'll resume this discussion." He tried to look threatening but he smiled which, inevitably, caused everyone to laugh.

After all those hours of talking and telling their stories, dinner time had finally arrived. And the three Illyrians couldn't help but look affectionately at their soulmate who had jumped in surprise when she saw the food appear in front of them. And when Rhysand had explained to her that the house was magical and that she only had to think of a dish for it to appear in front of her, Luxiana had gotten up to throw herself, arms and legs spread, on one of the walls of the room to give the house a hug.

"You're a good house. You're my favorite house. I love you so much, you know." She whispered to the house, caressing its cheek on the wall.

The three Illyrians felt like they were hallucinating but Mor's ungainly laughter brought them back to reality. Azriel jumped out of his chair to run towards Luxiana as she slowly slid off the wall to land on the ground. He grabbed her by the stomach, wrapping one of his arms around her to pull her away before she crashed but when he pulled her away from the wall, the house began to shake.

A silence fell as everyone stared at the ceiling in a mixture of shock and fear. "I think the house likes her too," Cassian laughed.

“Put it back on the wall,” Mor insisted, afraid the ceiling would fall on his head.

Azriel growled but didn't give in to Mor's request. He hadn't even heard it anyway, his ears were tickling from Luxiana's laughter. He put his soulmate back on the chair next to his.

Then they were able to eat happily, talking about everything and nothing in a good mood. The three Illyrians felt good. They had taken another step forward in their relationship with their soul mate. She now knew everything about them and they knew everything about her. Well, at least, that was what they thought.

“Would you like to visit the city?” Rhysand asked after the meal.

Luxiana turned a wide-open gaze towards him, so bright that it almost dazzled Rhysand.

Azriel smiled seeing her over react as always. "We could go buy some ice cream, do you like ice cream?" he asked, grabbing a strand of her hair that was hanging over her face. He stroked it with his fingertips for a second, savoring the silky texture, then he put it behind her ear.

Luxiana then turned abruptly towards Azriel with even brighter eyes - like two little suns - then she began to nod vigorously.

Cassian burst out laughing. "She likes ice cream apparently."

Rhysand stood up, his eyes sparkling and his chest vibrating with emotion and eager. He held out his hand to her. "Let's go then."

Luxiana grabbed it without arguing to jump to her feet and follow Rhysand with Cassian and Azriel joining them.

“Have fun!” Mor called affectionately before they left the room.

Luxiana turned back to her and Amren with a surprised face. "You're not coming?" She wanted to stop but Rhysand tangled his fingers with hers to continue pulling her.

Mor laughed as he glanced at Amren who was raising his glass of wine. “Oh no, we’d be too many. Next time, though, with pleasure!”

Rhysand led her out onto a large balcony. The cool air swept through Luxiana's hair, making her fur tingle and sending a waft of her vanilla scent into the nostrils of the three Illyrians who could have melted. As they neared the edge, Luxiana's eyes widened and she gasped in surprise when she noticed Velaris lying below. She wrenched herself, reluctantly, from Rhysand's grasp, and ran toward the barrier.

Azriel, who was still studying her with bright eyes, suddenly panicked when he saw her rushing towards the edge of the balcony. He raised his hands towards her, chasing her to try to catch up with her, but he froze when he saw her leaning on the barricade without going over it. He suddenly stopped, blowing out a breath. He put his hand on his heart, trying to calm his frantic beating under Cassian's laugh but understanding gaze from Rhysand. Since they had seen her run away from his room to climb a mountain without protection, they had understood that their soul mate was completely crazy and that they had to expect anything from her. Especially the stupidest things that would put her life in danger, like jumping over the balcony barrier.

“This city is beautiful!” she exclaimed, leaping up and down, her pupils reflecting the city lights.

Rhysand let out a small laugh. The dreamy look his soulmate currently had filled his heart with contentment. It had been worth it to do everything to protect this place if Luxiana loved it. He grabbed her chin with his fingers to make her look up to the sky.

The starry sky above them was wonderful, almost unreal. It took Luxiana’s breath away. She began to spin around to observe every corner, but when her eyes fell on a high mountain where on top were three stars that shone brighter than the others, she froze, frowning.

Azriel, Cassian, and Rhysand, who were eyeing her up, noticed her discomfort. "Is something wrong?" Azriel asked, casting a concerned look at Rhysand.

"No, no," their soulmate breathed, though a little lost. "It's just this mountain... and this sky... I feel like I've seen them before in a dream."

The three Ilyrians looked at each other with understanding and complicity. She had seen that in one of her dreams because she was linked to them and one of them must have unconsciously sent her that image one day through their link.

“Whatever,” Luxiana said, shaking her head. “Shall we go?”

Rhysand nodded and then smiled cockily with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “We have to fly. Which one of us three do you want to ride?”

A kind of anxiety arose in the pit of the stomachs of the three males, which they hid very well. All three of them wanted to be chosen.

Luxiana raised an eyebrow, surprised at first by the lord's turn of phrase. Then she smirked as she stared at Rhysand and the other two with a seductive expression. Of course, she began to blush but the low light reassured her that the three males couldn't see it. "Oh," she breathed, pouting in exaggerated disappointment. "You mean I can't ride all three of you? You're destroying my dreams."

Azriel looked at her tiredly, shaking his head from left to right, but he couldn't help but smile. His fingers burned, he wanted to touch her. Rhysand returned her seductive expression to his soulmate, but each of his muscles vibrated with excitement and desire. Cassian burst out laughing, leaning his head back , but his heart was pounding in his chest and his lower stomach was pulsing. "I'm sure we can find a solution , if you want."

Luxiana snorted, rolling her eyes. "No but seriously, I can't choose between the three of you!"

They were so reassured by her words that they almost had a hard time hiding it as they calmed down immediately, but Luxiana continued with a mischievous look. "Finally," she said, pointing at Cassian. "It's too dangerous to ride with him. He's too old, he could get a cramp in his wings and kill us both."

Cassian lost all trace of humor on his face to open his mouth wide, offended. Rhysand and Azriel burst out laughing. "I'm not even the oldest of the three!" Cassian defended himself before recovering and closing the distance between Luxiana and him in the blink of an eye. "Oh you'll see if I'm an old man."

"No, no, I was joking, wait," Luxiana laughed uncontrollably. She placed her palms flat on Cassian's chest to keep him at a distance, but he still got close enough to grab her hips firmly, pin her to his chest, and flew away.

Luxiana screamed in surprise, clinging to Cassian's shoulders and wrapping her legs around his pelvis as he flew into the air at full speed. The other two watched in hilarity as Cassian flew around the city with astonishing speed while their soulmate clung to him, screaming the whole time.

The commander of the armies, after a few seconds, and not wanting to scare his soul mate too much, decided to land in a street of the city. Azriel and Rhysand joined them immediately after.

Cassian had released his soulmate but she was still clinging to him like a mussel to its rock. She had her head in his neck and was breathing fast. Very fast, even giving the impression of having a physically tight throat. Cassian could hear, from where he was, his soulmate's heart beating madly in his chest. And he smiled with all his teeth as he realized that he could only hear one beat for both of them. Their hearts were beating in unison but surely not for the same reason.

"Cass, you're annoying," Rhysand stopped laughing as he saw Luxiana's distress and glared at his brother. He grabbed Luxiana by the hips to pull her away from Cassian and set her feet on the ground.

Cassian leaned towards her with a smirk. “So I’m still a grandpa now?”

Luxiana was all disheveled , her gaze wide open on the floor. She was still gasping for air but she shook her head vigorously from side to side, making Cassian laugh.

Azriel smirked. She was so cute. He ran his palm over the top of his soulmate’s head, smoothing her wild locks back onto her head. “Are you okay?”

Luxiana blinked back to her senses and began to smile with all her teeth as she jumped out off joy. Then against all odds, she began to nod vigorously this time. "That was incredible!" she yelled as she moved closer to Cassian. "Again! And faster this time!"

The three males flinched in surprise, but the Illyrian with the red siphons' eyes began to sparkle. He was going to grab her and lift her up, but Azriel pulled Luxiana by the arm, a little jealous that she was asking Cassian for another ride. He led her toward the city. "Later."

"Oh no," Luxiana said suddenly sad but when she turned to follow Azriel, in spite of herself, and saw the streets of Velaris bustling, crowded with people and where the shops were still open despite the late hour, her expression changed. She gasped in surprise, widening her shining eyes. She jumped for joy, moving her eyes in all directions to look at everything. She started to run towards the nearest shop to see what it was selling, but Azriel's hand held her back, preventing her from going more than two arm's lengths away. Luxiana didn't even try to find out what was stopping her or to make the Illyrian let go, when she saw another shop open at the opposite. She then changed direction to go there but was just as held back.

"Let her go," Cassian laughed as he followed them and tried to calm his anger and disappointment at the fact that Azriel had stopped him from flying with his soulmate again.

“No,” Azriel growled, intertwining his fingers with the blonde’s, “there are too many people, we’re going to lose her.”

"Wait, Luxiana, if you keep shooting, you'll tear my spymaster's arm off," Rhysand remarked with a tender smile as he joined his brothers and put his hands in his pockets. "We'll show you everything around anyway, don't worry."

And they visited everything. Absolutely everything. Luxiana took them to every shop in spite of themselves and she spoke with everyone she met, complimenting them, saying hello or even - for the shopkeepers - congratulating their work or asking them questions.

Azriel had to interrupt some of her discussions - all of them, in fact - when people in front of his soulmate smiled at her a little too much, looked at her a little too closely, or when she took on her attentive expression when she listened to their explanations. He had to pulled her away each time and she was so excited that Luxiana had never said anything about it.

On the other hand, she had never stopped talking to the three Illyrians behind her about what she saw. Cassian took great pleasure in showing her other things and even ran around with her while being just as excited. Except that it wasn't for the same reasons. Rhysand answered her questions by smiling so much that his cheeks were starting to cramp. He wasn't used to it anymore. And Azriel didn't even look where he was going, his bright eyes permanently fixed on Luxiana who was dragging him everywhere.

They eventually stopped at an ice cream stand as Luxiana and Cassian squealed in joy like children as they jumped.

Azriel let go of his soulmate's hand to place his palms on her shoulders and make her stop moving. "What's your favorite perfume?"

"Vanilla! Of course!" she replied, pulling away to turn around and stick her head against the window in front of the ice creams. Cassian joined her to do the same. Rhysand laughed, placing his hand on his forehead. "And you?" she asked, turning back to Azriel. "No wait! Let me guess. Hmmm... raspberry!" she exclaimed. "Am I right?"

Azriel smiled, "I guess we'll find out soon enough. One raspberry and one vanilla," he demanded of the seller. He may be deathly allergic to raspberry that he'd be enjoying this ice cream anyway, and maybe he'll like it after all.

“Guess for me too,” Cassian asked, jumping to Luxiana’s side.

Luxiana turned fully towards him to cross her arms and look at him with narrowed eyes. "You're caramel flavored, that's for sure."

Cassian raised an eyebrow in surprise. “How do you know?”

Luxiana grimaced exaggeratedly in surprise, not suspecting for a second that she was going to be right. She laughed before turning to Rhysand. Then she got serious again. "Oh no," she leaned back to bring her face closer to Cassian's behind her and whispered, "don't tell me he's a chocolate mint." Cassian pursed his lips to keep from laughing under Rhysand's dark gaze.

“He is a chocolate mint,” Cassian agreed in the same tone. Then he and Luxiana began to eye Rhysand with judgmental expressions, both nodding their heads from side to side. “He’s so weird.”

Luxiana nodded. She glanced at Cassian who glanced back and unable to hold back any longer, seeing each other trying not to laugh, they exploded. They stared at each other, leaning forwards while laughing.

Cassian calmed down slowly while detailing his soulmate. His heart slammed fiercely against his chest, even asking to go out. He felt, for once in his life, considered, really noticed. By Luxiana, what's more ? He loved the complicity he had with her. He loved that she didn't take herself too seriously. He loved that she was so alive and that she enjoyed every moment. And despite himself, he loved it when she teased him. This woman was his soulmate but what he felt for her at this precise moment had nothing to do with that. The butterflies that tickled his entire body were only there because he had made her laugh, because this woman in front of him was beautiful and because he had felt so good all day in her presence. Of course, Luxiana was important from the beginning. As soon as he knew she was his soulmate but from now on she was important for something else. He could never do without her now.

Cassian and Azriel finally got the four ice creams and Rhysand paid. Seeing him, Luxiana threw herself at him to wrap her arms around his for a second before gathering her courage. She delicately grabbed Rhysand's chin with her thumb and index finger to hold his head in place. Rhysand froze, wondering what she was doing as she stood on tiptoe to give him a kiss on the cheek, almost at the corners of his lips. "Thank you," she whispered to him as she moved away to wrap her arm around Rhysand's.

The Illyrian's eyelids widened as he felt his soulmate's lips land on his cheek while electrocuting his entire face. He began to smile with all his teeth as he looked down at Luxiana who was staring at him with pupils shining with a sort of admiration. "It's just an ice cream," he breathed, laughing, "I'm rich, I remind you."

Luxiana looked away with a smile. “Thanks for the ice cream too, but I wasn’t thanking you for that originally.”

Rhysand frowned as he tilted his head, silently urging her to elaborate as he turned fully towards her.

Luxiana let go to stand in front of him, giving a serious and intense gaze in the lord's. "Thank you for this city. Thank you for protecting it. It may not mean much to you, but I spent one of the best evenings of my life, here, with you. Truly."

Rhysand's face relaxed in realization. His heart skipped a beat. His soulmate had had one of the best nights of her life thanks to him. It made him so happy. He was so happy. He brought his hand up to Luxiana's cheek and held on tight. "You have no idea how much what you just said means to me. You really have no idea how good it feels to hear you say that, especially coming from you." Surprisingly, he was able to take a deep breath, feeling lighter than ever. Everything he had been through felt more worth it with every second he passed with Luxiana. His heart pounded against his burning ribs and electricity felt like it was coursing through his body nonstop as he took in the pretty blonde in front of him. Rhysand felt so lucky. What then awoke in his breast was something even stronger than affection.

Luxiana felt her cheeks heated so much that it burned her. She smiled in the hope that she had managed to calm Rhysand's bad thoughts a little. She pointed with her head at the ice creams in the hands of the two Illyrians at their sides. "Let's eat before it melts." She let go of Rhysand to grab her ice cream from Azriel's hands.

Rhysand clapped Cassian on the shoulder as he grabbed his ice cream.

Luxiana began to lick her ice cream happily as she started running around again and then she arrived at the edge of a river. She rushed towards it, clinging to the iron barriers that separated her from the water, very quickly joined by the three Illyrians. She turned towards them. Cassian was in front of her, Rhysand on her right and Azriel on her left. "This city is magnificent!" she exclaimed again, amazed. She leaned on the barrier with her free hand to lift herself up and put her buttocks on the metal, wanting to sit down to enjoy her ice cream in peace. But inevitably, she lost her balance and capsized backwards. She was going to catch herself by doing a clever movement but Azriel reacted before her.

Before he could even widen his eyes and drop his ice cream, his body - which had been tense since he had seen his soulmate get a little too close to the barrier and the river - reacted almost automatically to catch her with one hand by her arm and stabilize her. Azriel's heart exploded in his chest in fear before calming down when he saw that she was okay. "Be careful," he ordered her, giving her a stern look, but his expression melted into tenderness when he laid his eyes on Luxiana's face.

When she almost fell, she tried to catch herself but her ice cream hit her face. So she had vanilla all over her nose. She closed her eyes, cursing herself for being so stupid and trying to hide her blush of shame. "Sorry," she laughed, lowering her head to hide herself.

Cassian and Rhysand openly mocked her, laughing heartily, but Azriel could only laugh softly, he was far too absorbed in the cuteness of his soulmate. His heart was beating so hard in his chest that it warmed his entire body in a way he wasn't used to. He was so eager to spend more time with her. So eager to be able to hold her in his arms. So eager to possess her. He had never wanted anyone as much as he wanted her. Never. And it wasn't just because she was his soulmate, but because what she awakened in him made him feel alive, and vibrant. She brought such light to him. His smile slowly faded to seriousness. He brought his hand to Luxiana's face to gently rub the cream on her nose with his thumb. "It's nothing," he answered her. "I'll always be there to catch you, anyway." 

Luxiana had to swallow hard at his words, feeling tickled all over. She blinked several times quickly before smiling and shaking her head. Then she went back to talking about everything and nothing with the three Illyrians. And this, until they put her back in her room.

And when Cassian, Rhysand, and Azriel laid their heads on their pillows, they were smiling with all their teeth, their hearts still beating wildly in their chests. They weren't going to be able to sleep. They were way too excited, happy, and turned upside down by all the things they felt for Luxiana. They loved it. Everything she made them feel. But despite that, they still wanted more.

Luxiana flopped down on her bed, her eyes blank and her tired face staring at the ceiling. Everything she had said about herself today had brought back her memories, her guilt, her pain. She was so tired. So tired. She brought her hand to her shoulder, trying to massage her back. Ever since she had remembered, it had hurt. So much. Her entire back was burning and the mattress she was lying on only made it worse. So she leaned on it a little more, hurting herself even more to punish her for what she had done. She felt so guilty.

But despite that, tonight, with these three Illyrians, she had spent an excellent evening. And she had forgotten all the wrong things about her. She had been able to breathe a little thanks to them. And it was bad. So bad, especially since they only saw her as a service to be performed. But she intended to take advantage of the good they were doing to her.

[aettuddae]

HONEYCOMB — chapter 31.

꩜ synopsis: the lavier-choi's, a french-korean family from seoul's elite that runs an electric vehicle production business, has been preparing to face a looming economic crisis that could crumble their empire, and it all takes a turn for the worse when, unexpectedly, their patriarch, who headed the company, suddenly passes away. at the news and her mother's desperate call, albany, the eldest daughter, is forced to abandon her life in paris representing france as a professional fencer and return to her homeland to face her mom's old-fashioned whims in order to help the family. amidst all the frenzy, the only positive thing she finds is that, after years, she will be reunited with her siblings and all the friends she grew up with, especially the yu family from across the street.

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[written chapter]

the lavier-choi house was gigantic, of course it was, it was full of large windows overlooking the spacious courtyard that looked as if they had a park on their property. maybe it was because of the family's french influence, but little felt like seoul in that mansion. the kitchen was rustic, predominantly brown and its variants, and from the wooden-edged window just above a countertop yu jimin watched albany choi.

albany missed fencing. it was her life, it ran through her veins, and with the death of her father she had hardly had the strength to practice that last month. but that morning she couldn't stand it any longer and woke up early to go out to the yard to practice lunging with her old equipment that had been lying full of dirt in her room until that day.

the girl had been in the yard for hours in the middle of a difficult battle with the air and it had been a while since jimin had been glued to that window to admire her while drinking the coffee she had prepared.

albany still wasn't talking to her, it even seemed like she was avoiding her. after they kissed the night before, she hadn't been able to look her in the face, and jimin didn't understand if it was because she regretted it, because she was still upset, or because she was confused.

jimin watched her do what she loved most in the world like someone who sees a work of art that moves you or a tree with beautiful flowers. a smile came across her face and she felt like she could be there all day.

if she just stared at albany without her knowing it, then the problems between the two of them didn't exist.

but they did exist, and someone had to fix them. their friendship was worth more than any fight, and she hated feeling so bad when she remembered they weren't on good terms. so jimin finished her cup of coffee, washed it and then put it away to walk out into the courtyard to where albany was, grabbing her attention.

"don't you want to take a break?" she asked when she was close enough for her to hear her.

"no." she replied dryly.

"you've been practicing since 8 a.m." she observed with a tone of concern.

"i didn't become an olympic medalist by taking breaks." she reasoned without looking at her, still practicing her stroke as she spoke.

"you're seriously not going to rest?" she folded her arms with her head cocked to the side.

"not for a good while."

"then i'll help you." on the ground there was discarded fencing equipment, so she reached over and grabbed a jacket that albany wasn't wearing since she had no opponent who could hurt her.

karina didn't know as much about fencing as albany, she had seen her compete a few times personally and on television, she understood the rules and could tell who was winning, but she didn't have the slightest idea how she should use a sword, what kinds of weapons there were or where she should touch and with what. yet she had already helped albany before and only had to try to block her or move the sword a little, so she wasn't worried about that.

"jimin, it's not necessary." albany looked exhausted, not from so much exercising, but from the situation. you could tell she didn't want to see the blackhaired.

but the younger girl wanted the exact opposite. she wanted to talk, she wanted to understand what was going on in the older girl's head since this was one of the few times she had no idea about it. she wanted to apologize if she had to, and to be okay.

jimin picked up a wooden sword, she recognized it at first glance as it was the first one albany had ever had in her life and it had been made by her father when she was nine years old. it had been years since the blonde hadn't touched it, but it was always in her old bag and when jimin helped her practice it was the one she used, so she wouldn't hurt anyone.

the girl positioned herself in front of the blonde, right where she had been striking for hours without any opponent and stood on guard. the opponent grumbled for a moment, but finally copied the position. it served her right to have an opponent.

"prêts?" —ready? —voiced albany. "allez!" —forward. —they both rushed to the front.

jimin already had her instructions etched in her brain, move back and forth, try to block albany until she inevitably touched her with her weapon. it didn't take long, other times the blonde made it easy for her, but this time she was annoyed and she was saying it through her fencing. she blocked her once, twice, until albany's sword went in and jabbed her side.

"touche." the oldest announced.

"i noticed." the younger one spoke wryly.

"if you're going to be in a bad mood then i'd rather train alone." she turned to get her water bottle.

"you're in a bad mood." she rebutted. "i'm just trying to spend time with you."

"we can spend time together when i'm not training." she took a sip of her drink.

jimin let out an annoyed sigh and made a forward lunge taking the opportunity to strike albany's arm with her wooden sword, causing her to groan.

"and why was that?" she exclaimed.

"because you're acting like an idiot." she accused.

"me?" she pointed her own finger at her chest. "i'm acting like an idiot?" she laughed wryly. "do i have to remind you of everything you did?"

"we talked about it, albany."

"you planned to marry my brother and you kissed him!" she threw her weapon on the ground. "you didn't say a word to me." she recalled. "i'm your best friend, jimin." her voice came out in a high-pitched tone out of desperation. "but of course, i'm the one acting like an idiot." she dropped, sitting down on the ground.

"i already explained that i wanted to do it for you." she took a few steps towards albany and used her sword to push her chin up making her look at her. "it was all to help you."

"and how do i know you're telling the truth?" she asked as she pushed the tool away from her face. "you don't tell me things anymore." she accused.

jimin squatted down in front of albany, getting right up to her face. "you know i'm telling you the truth." she assured her. "no one knows me better than you." she caressed the girl's cheek.

"and the kiss?" she inquired, a little calmer.

"i told you i kissed sunwoo on impulse, i don't feel anything for him, it was just an instinc-"

"the kiss with me." she interrupted.

albany searched for jimin's eyes to see what they said about the situation, but they didn't want to be met. the younger girl averted her gaze to the floor and sides in embarrassment. albany used to talk about all topics with her, but she thought that would seem awkward to her too and thus wouldn't bring up the subject. she froze when she mentioned it.

"i was asked to kiss the most attractive person in the room." she reminisced. "and i already told you, you are the prettiest of your siblings." she lowered her head, it was true, she had mentioned it to her before in a playful way to reassure her, she wasn't telling her anything new.

"why didn't you kiss sunwoo again?" she confronted.

"i didn't want to." she admitted, it was the truth.

"how does that work?" in her words it was beginning to show how angry she was at the lack of answers. "one day you want to kiss him and the next day you don't?"

"i never wanted to kiss him!" she cried out in frustration. "i was happy and it was an impulse." she justified again. "at that time i still thought i would marry him, you are the first one to tell me i am impulsive." she rested her hands on the floor and with these she supported herself as she unfolded her legs to sit. "i don't like sunwoo." she stated. "i kissed you."

"you kissed me because it was the easiest thing to do." she assumed.

"yes, albany, it was easier to kiss you before you had another episode of hysteria." she conceded, already annoyed by all the questioning. "but i wanted to do it." she confessed without much thought. "i wanted to kiss you, so i did."

they were both silent, jimin regretting having said that and with her heart pounding in such a way that it felt like it would pierce her chest and run away, and albany recalculating what she had meant to infer with that statement.

"did you want to kiss me?"

"no." she hesitated. "i mean, i did want to." her words were treated as they came out. "because it's you." she covered her face with her hands from embarrassment. "and i didn't want to kiss your brothers." she rambled on without getting to a point. "i mean, you were the easier solution." she looked at her. "but i didn't kiss you because it was less complicated." she kept saying nonsense. "i mean, it's not that i kissed you so i wouldn't generate more drama, but i did kiss you because it was the easiest thing to do." she tried to explain. "do you understand?"

"no." she shook her head.

"just know it wasn't so you wouldn't get mad." she simplified. "it was a kiss with good intentions."

"if you say so..." albany looked at her with furrowed brows trying to piece together her whole mess of sentences in her head to make sense of it.

"shall we continue training?" she proposed to try to end that awkward situation.

"okay." she nodded understanding that neither of them wanted to talk about it any further and that somehow everything had been settled.

(!)

taglist [OPEN] : @cwpiqwon @yoontoonwhs @aeriuchinarga @sixflame438 @yeetaberry127 @1luvkarina @masuowo @saysirhc @rinapomu @aliceiwk @nwjnsloona @arihiu @gtfoiydlyj @kristalag @hotluvlet

[delulu-with-wandanat]

Fatal Attraction

Pairings: Wanda Maximoff x Natasha Romanoff

Warnings: Mentions of sexual stuff.

Summary: Natasha gets hurt during a mission with Wanda, and Wanda for some reason found herself more attracted to Nat. Yes, in her state on injury. (Featuring Y/n, Natasha's dumbass little brother and Wanda's wingman)

"Incoming!" The young super soldier yelled as he jumped into the Quinjet with his best friend. Wanda groaned at his antics, wanting nothing more than to go home and continue watching her shows.

Y/n had insisted Wanda that they flew into the back of the Quinjet instead of entering like a normal person. It's not that Wanda didn't have the heart to say no, Y/n simply doesn't take no for an answer. "So long fuckers!" He gave the middle finger as the door closes.

"Will you stop using my powers for your little attractions?" Wanda asked.

"Gosh you train with Nat too much you're starting to sound like her." Y/n rolled his eyes.

"That's not a bad thing! She get things done."

"I get shit done too! But, I make it fun."

"Not when we're-"

"Ugh quiet you two, you're being too loud." They heard Natasha complained. The two young Avengers glanced at her and their face twisted into concern when they finally noticed her injury.

Before Y/n could approach his sister, Wanda was quick to be at her side. "Natasha! What happened?"

Natasha shook it off with a faint smirk, "Don't worry about it Wanda. It's just a scratch."

"This is not just a scratch."

"I've had worse."

"You need to go to the med bay."

The former Russian spy rolled her eyes, "No doctors."

"Wands, there's no point. One time she got a broken rib and she still wouldn't go." Y/n snickered, he was concerned for Nat, but he knew she had went through worse. A flesh wound on the side of her stomach was nothing... To the Black Widow I mean.

Meanwhile Wanda's eyes grew wide at the new information. "Just take a seat, little witch. I'll handle this." Natasha said gently. Natasha was normally sarcastic to everyone, yet she had a soft spot for the young witch. Wanda blushed slightly at the nickname.

Wanda took a seat across from Natasha, Y/n approached his sister and handed her a medkit. "You good?"

"Just a normal flesh-wound-Friday, I'm good." She responded with a flat face. Her little brother rolled his eyes and took a seat next to her.

"You're always so mean to me. Wanda doesn't get this kind of treatment." He grumbled.

"Because she's kind and cute, meanwhile you're a pain in my ass." Wanda's heart skipped a beat, she thinks I'm cute? She heard her best friend groaned again.

Wanda and Natasha had been growing closer each day, especially now that Natasha was mentoring her. Wanda was close to Y/n first, as they were closer to age and not to mention he was the first to welcome her into the Avengers. Natasha took a little while longer, not that she had any resentment towards the young girl, she just wasn't exactly a people person.

Now that Steve had assigned Natasha to mentor Wanda in hand-to-hand combat, the two women are now closer than they were before. And also caused Wanda's itty bitty tiny crush on Natasha to grew. Y/n knew of course, Wanda was not subtle, at ALL.

The way her gaze would follow Nat at the gym, or how Wanda would blush whenever Natasha gave her compliments. Honestly, he might've been the one who gave Steve the idea to assign them to train together. You'll never know.

It seems like Wanda was too deep in thought as she failed to notice that Natasha had unzipped her suit in order to stitch the flesh wound on her stomach. She only looked up when she heard Natasha saying, "Keep it steady Steve."

Holyfuck, Wanda turned as red as her powers. The widow had her suit partially unzipped from the waist up, she had the sleeves of her suit take off as well to give her more flexibility. Showing off her toned bicep and of fuck her rock hard abs. Wanda let in a sharp breath.

Natasha, who has ears like a hawk, looks up at Wanda and gave her a wink. "Like what you see?"

Wanda knows Natasha is a flirt, but damn you don't gotta do her like that. Wanda quickly averted her gaze. She swore she tried to maintain her eyes elsewhere but with Natasha grunting as she tended her wounds, it's pretty fucking difficult.

She used alcohol to clean up the wound, and winced. "Agh shit-" Natasha cursed. Well that twisted something in Wanda's stomach. Y/n who had been playing on his phone, internally scoffed at his sister. She was doing this on purpose. He decided to pull out his earbuds, I'm hearin none of that.

The widow was more than capable of not making any sounds when her injuries are being cleaned. Y/n knew damn well Natasha was just teasing Wanda.

"Do you uh... need any help?" Wanda asked timidly.

"It's alright, little witch. It's nothing I can't handle." Natasha winked again. Christ, Wanda is a mess right now.

Natasha grunted again, "Ugh fuck-" she rested her head back and purposely tightened her abs. Wanda's mind raced again at the thought of hearing Natasha curse while they're in bed as she rides her abs-

No- nooope no no no

Wanda quickly shook to the thought again. The whole ride to the compound felt excruciatingly long. Natasha had opted to wear a tank top that she kept hidden somewhere in the Quinjet. (Don't question her-)

When the quinjet door flew open Y/n was the first to dart out, Steve followed after him. He look back at the two women, "Wanda, make sure she goes to the med bay. The wound still needs a proper cleaning."

"Leave it, fossil." Natasha said flatly as the two walked beside each other. Steve merely gave them a kind smile and continue his way inside the compound.

"Do you need any assistance?" Wanda asked.

"In what terms?" The widow teasingly asked. Wanda turned bright red again.

"I- you know what I mean." Natasha let out a soft laugh, she sounds so beautiful. Wanda could listen to Natasha laughing all day.

"It's alright, little witch. I can walk to my own room."

"Nu uh! Steve said-"

"Wands, I've had wounds like these many times in my life. I can handle it." Natasha said gently with a smile.

Wanda huffed slightly like a little child, shit she's so adorable. "At least let me walk you back to your room then?"

Natasha chuckles, "Alright, lead the way." The two women made their way in a comfortable silence. They reached their shared floor and soon enough they reached Natasha's room. "Well, here we are."

Natasha opened the door to her room and look back at Wanda who was standing outside awkwardly, "Are you sure you don't need to get to the med bay?" Wanda asked again. Her face showed concerns for the other woman.

Natasha gave her a gentle smile again, fuck her smile she's absolutely gorgeous. "I'm sure." Natasha retreats further back into her room. "I'll see you around, Wanda." She closes the door. Wanda lets out the breath she had been holding.

Fuck everything about this woman drives her crazy. Even as simple as Natasha saying her name. She wonders how her name sound if Natasha moaned it-

"I swear how many seasons do I have to wait til you guys get together." Wanda heard a voice beside her and yelped in surprise. She turned to find her best friend standing in the hallway leaning against a wall with his arms crossed. He had a shit-eating grin on his face.

"What are you talking about?" She asked Y/n.

"You like her, she likes you. Seriously, stop with the tension and just kiss already-" Wanda quickly shut his mouth with her hand.

"SHHHHH-"

Y/n's face cringes in confusion, "Hmpf?!"

"You can't just say things like that!"

"Like what??" He asked as Wanda let go of her hand over his mouth. "That you like her?"

Wanda glared and shut his mouth again. Y/n being the dumb best friend decided to stick their tongue out causing Wanda to pull her hand back and wipe it on his face. "EW!"

"Noo!!! I'll get a breakout-"

"Then don't lick my fucking hand!" She yelled in hushed whisper.

"Wanda, as your friend, and her brother, I'm telling you just ask her out or something."

"What if she says no?" Wanda asked, "Beside I don't want to ask her out until I'm sure she's into women."

With that Y/n gave a very, very, extremely, disappointed look. "You really did not just say that." Did she not hear the part where I said, 'she likes you'?

"What?"

"I-" Y/n shook his head. "Never mind." He turned on his heel and walked away.

"Y/n? What does that mean?!!" She chased after her friend.

These dumb lesbians I swear.

I just wanted an excuse to use that pic of Nat, teheeeeee. Hope you guys liked this! I'm still not sure whether or not to make this into a series or nah, butt i love me sum Nat x Sibling!reader shenanigans.

[antion-bewitching-bitch]

Prologue 2 : Childhood Memories Of a Young Heart

Descendants x male Oc (you can read it as a self-insert if you want).

Master List

Next Chapter | Prev Chapter

TW: None Word Count : 2.7k

A/N: WELCOME, THE DAY HAS FINALLY COME. Sorry not sorry but like life just came and made me inactive sorry <3. Now here is the next prologue, the next chapter will be the start! In this story Eli and the other VKs are still kids and this is how they all met, and some foreshadowing in the group dynamics. HOPE YALL ENJOY!

AGAIN, NOT PROOF READ. if there is any mistakes or like just things that are confusing. Please forgive me for this is just my early days of writing, also if you notice a like change of past or just vibes at the ending parts. That is because thats when i came back to continue this chapter. ANYWAYS JUST ENJOY PLZ.

“Do you know who your father is, Eli?” A boy with white hair and black roots asked Eli. Carlos was his name, ever since Eli could remember he was with him. Being neighbors did make them closer than the other kids in the alley. 

Today was a gloomy day at the isle, it wasn’t that different from most days; and like any other day Eli dragged Carlos with him to find something to do in the isle. There they passed countless people laying in the streets with just mere boxes and metal sheets sheltering them, going under the hazardly built complex of the buildings in the isle and passing the people who worked almost everyday.

“Why ask?” Eli replied and looked back at him. 

our voices were so high pitched back then. We both were in our daily garments with patches of fabrics that covered out past activities that left holes, in the isle it was rare to have multiple sets of clothing.

“I was wondering since..” Carlos continued while he walked closer to Eli “I asked my mom who my dad was last night!” He whispered only loud enough for them to hear

“Who is he?” Eli whispered back, they both now stood blocking the middle of the walkway.

Carlos gave Eli a frown in return. He looked at the ground before answering him with another whisper “Mom just told me to stop asking and to never ask the same question ever again. and made me sleep early...”.

“So you don’t know?” 

“Well…yeah..”

“well..” Eli was trying to think of a way to cheer him up a bit, then a memory came to mind. It was when he tried asking my mom the same thing. “Well my dad is a monster! So it's fine if you don’t know yours...”

The old nanny that came with mom to the isle told me this story. I tried asking mom and she just looked terrified when I did. The nanny then grabbed me and left my mom in the room and told me the story of how my mother was kidnaped by an evil monster alone and then left her with me by her side. It wasn’t until I grew older that I was finally told the truth, again making sure my mom was out of sight when the nanny told me the truth.

“A monster?” Carlos looked at Eli with a confused look. “Yeah!”

“So your…your half monster?” Carlos asked with a confused smirk 

“I think? Is that how it works?” 

It was laughable how little we knew back then; still kids. In a place we didn’t even know was that bad since we didn’t even know any other place than the isle.

He started to laugh, Eli cheered him up with his cluelessness. They would then continue exploring the isle, looking  through crevices they found with fungi growing in them, Abandoned buildings that collapsed in itself, and the bustling space of merchants. 

As they strolled down the streets they saw two girls. One had jet black hair like the roots of Carlos the other had navy blue hair. They seemed to be arguing over something.

“Mal I think we’re lost…” The bluenette said to the ravenette. “Relax, Eve! I know the way back.”

Even as kids, Mal was always so stubborn; yet was still with Evie. Those two even back then were inseparable. Be it for better or worse. Huh.. I just noticed that nickname Mal gives her, Eve. Didn’t know that even back then she called her that.

“A-are you sure? It's getting dark soon…” Evie asked Mal, they were holding hands the entire time. With Evie now tugging at her to make Mal look at her.

“I-...I’m sure Eve..I-” Before the ravenette can continue Carlos interjected and asked them. “Are you both lost?”

The bluenette noticed the boy and was thankful that someone was there, that might even be able to help them. “Yes, please help us. We-". "No we’re not.” said the raven haired girl that now has an unpleasant face.

“It's obvious you are.” Eli said, finally showing his presence and walking to stand next to Carlos. “We can help you, I’m Carlos by the way, I'm Cruella's Son! We're used to these parts of the isle so we can help you easily!”

“You can? Oh what a lucky princess I am! Two brave knights came to save us Mal!” The bluenette was filled with joy with the response from Carlos. Mal was still there being stubborn and not even facing both Eli and Carlos.

“You’re a Princess?!” Carlos was in awe, but it's not like it was new to him. Eli was also royalty in his eyes. “Oh I am! I am Evie, Daughter of the Evil Queen!” She introduced herself. Evie now looked at the ravenette and nudged her elbow a bit, but she wasn’t budging. “This is Mal. She’s a close friend of mine and the daughter of the great Maleficent!”

“And you are?” Mal then asked in a still annoyed tone, she was aiming the question to Eli. “Eli. Son of the Mad Queen of Hearts.” Evie gasped, “You’re royalty too?!”

“Hmmm I think?” Eli responded. He thought more deeply into this. “Carlos, am I a prince?”

Both Evie and Carlos answered with a loud yeah.

Mal, now getting more irritated, made a grunt for attention “Are you going to start helping us or not?”. “Where are you both heading then?” Carlos asked Evie so they could help them.

Now that I think about it. I think Mal got irritated about how close Me, Carlos, and Evie were starting to get. She was always so protective of her. I think she also got more irritated because of how close Evie was getting to Me. Which was stupid to be honest.

After a while of going through the alleyways and pathways towards their way home, Carlos and Eli were able to guide Mal and Evie back. Carlos himself was actually seemingly wanting to get closer to Evie, but Mal would always be a barrier between the two.

The entire time they were walking home, it was getting darker and closer to dusk. The sun was already down low in the horizon but they didn’t even notice that for the heart of the isle was filled with claustrophobic building complexes. They only noticed how it was getting darker and darker signaling the time of night.

However Mal was still apprehensive with the two, she was more irritated by Carlos and him trying to get closer with Evie but was suspicious of Eli’s quiet observing nature; he was behind them when walking back but didn’t talk much other than joining in a bit of conversations. She didn’t like how quiet he was.

“I’d forever be grateful for this! And I’m even more glad that I got to meet another royal!” Evie said with her high pitched voice while giving Eli a smile, even when it was now getting night time and was visibly looking tired; she still kept up her imagined image of a princess. 

“It was nothing really…” Carlos blabbered with a blush on his face visible, he clearly has a crush on her. “It was nice making new friends.” Eli stated back.

It's so weird looking back and seeing Carlos having a crush on Evie, now they’re relationship is nothing more than brother and sister. I bet if I ever tell Evie that Carlos had a crush on her back then, he would be so embarrassed and ashamed. Bet Mal never forgot though, I wonder how she feels about Carlos now.

The lights were dimming, soon they would find themselves below the stars. “It's time for us to go Carlos.” Eli told him. Mal would then scout Carlos towards Eli and away from Evie as she did she said “It's night now at this point. You two should head back home.”. “O-Oh…I didn’t notice it was this late now…” Carlos looked up at the fog polluted skies. “Come on Carlos.” Eli grabbed him and started heading back home.

“Ah- WAIT.” Carlos tried to stop Eli from dragging him a bit. “GOODBYE EVIE! BYE MAL!” he screamed since he wanted to say farewell but couldn’t stop Eli from making him go. “GOODBYE SHINING KNIGHTS!” Evie waved back towards Carlos and Eli who were about to turn into an alleyway where they would last see them for the night. Mal on the other hand was thankful they left, sure they helped her. But they also irritated her a lot.

The streets were dark and littered with men and women, some were drinking, some were talking, most were smoking. It wasn’t really a child friendly place to be in, but by some miracle. Eli and Carlos were able to get home safely.

Albeit with a long scolding by Eli’s mom Mary. Carlos was supposed to go to his home but Cruella, his mom, wasn’t home yet. She would work day by day sewing and tailoring for the people of the isle. It was the only way she could earn a living and raise her only child, both her and Mary would sometimes switch responsibilities in taking care of the children when the old nanny wasn’t around.

After the punishment of kneeling on the floor for a long period of time given to them, Eli and Carlos got to bed. They shared a room in cases like this. Eli would sleep on his bed while Carlos would sleep on the spare mattress, if Cruella was taking care of them. It would be vice versa but in Carlos' room.

Carlos asked Eli while looking at the ceiling thinking back to the girls they met. “Do you think they're cute? Evie and Mal I mean…” There was a period of silence. Eli was contemplating about his answer

“I don’t have much of an interest in them if i'm being honest…They’re nice, well Evie seems to be. But nothing much of note rather than Evie being a princess like me.” Eli answered back now looking towards Carlos from his bed.

“Ever since we met, you never thought of girls as being cute…why?” Carlos asked him not maliciously but just curiously, Eli chuckled. “It’s simple, I don’t see them as that. I find other boys to be much more appealing!”. 

Now this was a big lie, in fact. When I was younger, I never found any other boy to be appealing. The taller more mature men though, now that was what I found appealing even at that age.

“Huh... .Am I cute?” Carlos asked him.

“In a scared little kitty way, yeah!” Eli answered him with a smile while cuddled up with his pillow and blanket.

“...” Carlos looked away from him and remained silent.

“Carlos?” Eli called.

“...”

That was the first ever time I got the silent treatment from him. He may be soft and just little back then, but he took such pride in being a ‘man’ as he would say back then. Even when I grow older like now, I still find that stupid.

PANG!....

It was early in the morning, the moon hadn't even set yet. However Eli and him being a light sleeper woke up to noise coming from the kitchen. He looked over at his side and saw Carlos wasn’t there now. Cruella must have brought him home after she came back from her job.

PONG!...

He heard it again, more noise from the kitchen. It sounded like falling metal things, like the pots and pans used for cooking. It was attached to some doors at the kitchen cabinets so he wondered if it fell because it was recklessly opened.

He got out of bed to check what was happening downstairs, was it his mother?

When he got there, he found a tan skinned boy going through the cabins of the kitchen with food wrappings scattered at the floor alongside the crumbs. Some notable silverware was gone missing and supposedly now in the boy’s pockets.

“When robbing someone, shouldn’t it be done quietly?” Eli was able to grab the burglar’s attention. The balancing act he was doing while going through the cabin vanished for he was startled, causing him to fall into the floor.

“Wow…” Eli was surprised how clumsy this boy was.

The boy had dark brunette hair that was reaching his shoulders while wearing red, even as he laid on the floor Eli could tell he was taller than him. It was silent after that. The boy eyed him, he couldn’t think of what to do now.

As protection, Eli bent down to grab one of the cooking pans that fell. Even as his burglar seemed clumsy and a meat head, he wanted to have a way to protect himself.

“..Why aren’t you screaming…” The boy asked him as he sat up from the floor looking up at him.

“‘Cause you're a kid.” Eli answered simply, he pointed the pan at the boy’s face and continued “If you were an adult I wouldn’t have even spoken and ran to my mom.”

“..Are you not scared of me?” He asked.

“No. You’re a child, not much to fear than your idiocy.” He told him. Food crumbs were still visible on the boy’s mouth. “If you were hungry my mom would have fed you out of pity. Now while I’m still merciful, give back those things you stole. Now.”

“..Fine…..” The boy stood up and grabbed all the spoons and such from his pockets and dumped them to the sink. “I said back to where you stole them. Not. The. Sink.” Eli was ready to strike the boy’s face with the pan, even as the boy stood a few inches taller than him.

As the boy fled and grabbed all of it and placed it back to their rightful place Eli was noticing him more. With a more muscular form than normal, tanned skin, scruffy attire. He guessed he was from the morning merchants area not far from here. Maybe he was a laborer, some unfortunate kids in the isle are forced and made to work for whatever reason the adults had. Maybe financial aid, familial businesses, or so on.

He wasn’t that bad, “What's your name?” Eli asked him when he finished. “...are you not going to tell on me?” the boy asked him, he was worried since he was caught if he was gonna be punished. “I’m a merciful kid. Now, what is your name child?” Eli questioned him back with a condescending smirk and his cooking pan now resting on his shoulder.

“Jay. Call me Jay.” He answered back. “Well nice to meet you Jay, quite the first impression huh?” Eli showed his free hand to shake. 

“What's yours?” Jay asked him. He seemed less shaken and worried now by his voice, he grabbed Eli’s hand.

Eli shook his hand and smiled at him “Eli. You can call me Eli.”

Jay had a blush when hearing the name, Eli didn’t seem to notice. “Are we friends then?” he asked

“Maybe. You have to prove to me you’re worthy though, the first impression of you being a burglar isn’t exactly helping you.” Jay smiled for it was his first time gaining a friend, one he thought was as cute as Eli.

It wasn’t that surprising that Jay and I dated once we got older, now looking back at it. That day seems more crazy as it was the first time I met other kids that I like other than Carlos. My first time meeting Mal and Evie, alongside Jay. Now look at us, we’re on our way out of the isle, going to this school we haven’t heard off since just this morning.

Mal and Evie are still quite close together, but with Mal tolerating us more. Carlos was still like a little brother to me, but now he wasn’t as quiet and shy as back then. Then there is Jay, possibly the one that knows me the best out of everyone.

It was nice when we dated, even when it hurt to break it off. Becoming and then staying friends with him was the right choice, though I am happy that I got to experience what I was like to be with him at the time. I’m sure he does too, his one of the best mistakes I ever made. Now, he is one of my closest friends.

As I stare out of this Car window, I can see the clear blue skies outside. We’ve reached Auradon and have left the isle. It's beautiful, I hate it.

An : Did you guys like it? So I tried doing a mix of 2nd and 3rd person, if you can’t tell. The initialization of paragraphs like here in the end, this is all Eli’s Monologue. Also just in case Y'all also didn’t get it, the entire chapter is just Eli reminiscing about the first time he met every other VKs! PLEASE LIKE IT, IM SORRY I’VE BEEN GONE I HOPE YALL ENJOY THIS.